<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
<meta charset="UTF-8">
<title>a masterpiece in motion, more beautiful every day by fairylightsandrainydays</title>
<style type="text/css">

body { background-color: #ffffff; }
.CI {
text-align:center;
margin-top:0px;
margin-bottom:0px;
padding:0px;
}
.center   {text-align: center;}
.cover    {text-align: center;}
.full     {width: 100%; }
.quarter  {width: 25%; }
.smcap    {font-variant: small-caps;}
.u        {text-decoration: underline;}
.bold     {font-weight: bold;}
</style>
</head>
<body>
<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357688">a masterpiece in motion, more beautiful every day</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairylightsandrainydays/pseuds/fairylightsandrainydays'>fairylightsandrainydays</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Julie and The Phantoms (TV), The Little Mermaid (1989)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer Has Anxiety (Julie and the Phantoms), Alex is Ariel, Alternate Universe - The Little Mermaid Fusion, Angst, Caleb Covington Being an Asshole, Caleb is Ursula, Dante and Fuego are Flotsam and Jetsam, Evil Caleb Covington, F/M, Fluff, Inspired by Fanart, M/M, Mutual Pining, Willie angst, Willie is Eric</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-11</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-26</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 03:56:01</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>13</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>30,096</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29357688</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/fairylightsandrainydays/pseuds/fairylightsandrainydays</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Alex Mercer is a merboy with a fascination for the human world. Willie is a prince who he saves from a storm. And Caleb Covington is the sea witch who is going to make Alex's dream come true.</p><p>So long as Caleb gets what he wants.</p><p>------------------<br/>I'm bad at summaries but I swear this fic is gonna be good!<br/>A Willex Little Mermaid AU</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Alex Mercer/Willie (Julie and The Phantoms), Julie Molina/Luke Patterson</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>98</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>120</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Chapter One</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>This fic was inspired by @thesunwillart on tumblr's fanart of the boys in the Little Mermaid, definitely go check it out!<br/>Title is from "Ballerina" by Jeremy Shada!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>“Alex, wait up!” he hears his name fall from a fearful voice, and Alex glances back. His best friend is lagging behind him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Luke! Come </span>
  <em>
    <span>on</span>
  </em>
  <span>, this is really cool!” he points toward a shipwreck just ahead. He’s not always one for exploring abandoned ships, but he needs new flumfers for banging his noisemakers. His best friend, a merboy named Luke, is </span>
  <em>
    <span>less </span>
  </em>
  <span>than excited about this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Probably because he doesn’t want to be late to see Julie perform.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie’s his sister, the eldest and the one with the best singing voice of the seven of them, and she’s Luke’s girlfriend. She’s also the only one of his sisters that he actually likes. She, Alex, Luke, and their friend Reggie play music in Alex’s grotto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is the eldest son (of the two) of his adopted father, King Ray, and for </span>
  <em>
    <span>some </span>
  </em>
  <span>reason, the king thinks that makes him obligated to be the star of the insane shows the royal choreographer, Bobby, puts on. The king has heard Alex’s singing voice only once, and he’s convinced that Alex has a gift. He keeps trying to get Alex to sing for the performances Bobby puts on, and Alex just keeps flaking.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He makes up reasons why he doesn’t want to sing. His pod are really the only people that know the truth, that his birth parents disliked his singing, kept him from doing it. He learned the noisemakers instead, and it’s the best thing to do when he wants to hide from the world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He only sings to himself now. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wishes the king would stop pestering him about it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s not that he doesn’t like his adopted dad, actually it’s the exact opposite. King Ray and Julie were there for him when no one else was. And now he’s skipping Julie’s performance to explore.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hey, he needs new flumfers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Luke, don’t be such a guppy and come </span>
  <em>
    <span>on</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke huffs. “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>a guppy.” he’s got his angry face out, but he follows Alex all the same when he swims through a porthole in the side of the sunken ship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is eager to get inside, eager to distract himself from the dark cloud of octopus ink that’s been lurking in the back of his mind all day. Luke is less so. “Alex, maybe we should go back. If your dad found out, or if </span>
  <em>
    <span>Julie </span>
  </em>
  <span>found out…” he trails off as Alex glances back at him, a snarky look on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“All right, fine,” Luke says, defeated. “but </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>the one who’s going to explain to Julie why we didn’t see her performance.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex rolls his eyes and swims deeper inside the wrecked ship, Luke still quietly inking behind him about </span>
  <em>
    <span>missing Julie’s performance </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>sharks </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>can we go back now</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Luke, there isn’t going to be any sharks. We’re too deep into the cove.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks around for something, anything that could replace his current flumfers, but he doesn’t find anything.</span>
</p><p><br/>
<br/>
</p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Alex, let’s just go now, shall we?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex turns around to glare at Luke. “You want to go, go. I’m staying. I need those flumfers.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swims farther into the ship, through a hole in the floor.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His eye catches on a pair of wooden sticks, laying entwined in a cloth on the wooden floor of the ship. He smiles, pulls on them. “Perfect!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He puts them into the flumfer holder he’d fashioned out of seaweed when he’d first started playing the noisemakers, strapped across his chest.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glances at Luke, whose brow is furrowed and who is looking out the window in front of them. Luke clears his throat. “Look out there and tell me that’s not a shark.” Alex glances out the window, and...yup, that’s a shark, a glare in its eyes, headed right for the two merboys. He was wrong, apparently sharks </span>
  <em>
    <span>can </span>
  </em>
  <span>navigate the cliffs and mountains of the cove.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> The ink starts to escape from the prison of distraction he’s shoved it into.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex lets out a little squeak and freezes, and Luke takes charge, grabbing his hand and dragging him toward the porthole from whence they came.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It often happens like this, in Alex’s pod. The ink will start lurking in Alex’s mind, and he’ll take a friend or the whole pod out adventuring, and he’ll be headstrong until he senses real danger, and then Luke or Julie will take the lead, standing up to Alex and Julie’s father when he’s being a bit too harsh on them, pulling them away from clingy merfolk, or, in this case, sharks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They make it through the porthole unscathed, but the shark has their scent now, and it’s hot on their tails. They swim as fast as they can toward home, toward the Molina’s kingdom, and hope for dear life that the shark doesn’t catch them before they make it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They duck past coral reefs, through beds of kelp, the shark just behind them. Alex can hear the </span>
  <em>
    <span>snap </span>
  </em>
  <span>of its jaws as it catches on some seaweed, and as he looks back, his flumfer holder slips off his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He pulls to a stop, and Luke, still holding on to his wrist, stops too. “Alex, what are you doing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex pulls his hand out of Luke’s swimming after his flumfer holder. The shark goes after him, following him into the depths. The holder is caught on a rock, and Alex just manages to unhook it. He swims back up to where Luke is floating, flapping his hands at Alex. “Come </span>
  <em>
    <span>on</span>
  </em>
  <span>, </span>
  <em>
    <span>swim, </span>
  </em>
  <span>you idiot!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He grabs Alex’s wrist again, and they swim until they can see the shining towers of the Molina’s palace. The shark deters at the border of the kingdom, where it knows that Alex’s father will blast it with his trident. Alex and Luke are safe, for the moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They swim to the gate of the palace. Alex pulls the flumfers out of their holder on his chest and shows them to Luke, grinning. “I got the flumfers!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ALEXANDER MOLINA AND LUKE PATTERSON.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No longer safe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An angry mergirl is swimming toward them, just ahead, and Luke’s eyes widen. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>You’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>explaining, remember?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex groans, but he turns to Julie when she swims up to them, an angry glare on her face and her hands on her hips, just above her amethyst tail.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Jules.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t ‘hey Jules’ me! Where </span>
  <em>
    <span>were </span>
  </em>
  <span>you guys? Alex, you promised Bobby you’d be dancing with the rest of the performers today!” Oh, right. He’d forgotten about that. He can feel Luke edging behind him, his hands on Alex’s shoulders, his head hiding in between his shoulder blades. He puts his flumfers back in their seaweed. Perhaps now is not the time to celebrate his find.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh-uh, Luke, come out from behind Alex. Don’t use him as your shield! I’m mad at you, too!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke laughs nervously and swims out from behind Alex, looking for all the sea like a child who’s been caught with his hands in the seaweed jar. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I really didn’t mean to miss you, Julie. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Really</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I just… Alex was being really pushy!” Alex turns to Luke, his mouth open. “Way to pin the wave on </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>, bro!” Luke shrugs sheepishly. “Well, you were! You were going on and on about how you needed new flumfers, and how you were </span>
  <em>
    <span>sure </span>
  </em>
  <span>the new shipwreck you found would have…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex blocks Luke out, suddenly focusing on the large mass swimming toward them, a trident in his hand. He starts waving his hands, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Luke, stop talking, dad’s gonna hear! </span>
  </em>
  <span>More ink seeps out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And then </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>were the one who froze in front of the shark, I hope you’re happy now that we almost </span>
  <em>
    <span>di-”</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>King Ray clears his throat and Luke stops talking abruptly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, Luke, you went to a shipwreck today, instead of coming to see your best friend’s performance? Haven’t we talked about this?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex casts his eyes down. “I know.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“The human world, and anything related to it, is </span>
  <em>
    <span>dangerous</span>
  </em>
  <span>, children. I don’t see why you don’t understand this! I have told you time and time again to </span>
  <em>
    <span>stay </span>
  </em>
  <span>away from them, and yet you continue to defy my wishes. Can you tell me why that is?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No one says a word, not even Julie, and more of the ink escapes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king scrubs a hand over his face and sighs. “Just. Don’t go looking for more human treasures, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There are “yes, sir”s and “thank you”s and “love you, dad”s from all three of them, and the king releases them to their own devices.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks a lot, Luke.” mutters Alex once they’re safely out of earshot of the king and headed toward Alex’s grotto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie smacks Alex lightly on the arm. “It isn’t his fault. You </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>need to tone back the human obsession, Lexie.” Alex huffs, both at the insinuation of his obsession and at the nickname. “I’m not </span>
  <em>
    <span>obsessed</span>
  </em>
  <span>. I just… want to know more. What’s it like up there? I want to </span>
  <em>
    <span>be </span>
  </em>
  <span>there.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, Alex.” says Luke, moving the rock aside from the mouth of his grotto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The three swim inside, where they are met by Reggie, playing with the strings Alex has set up to be his kinnish. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, guys! I’ve been waiting for you, we need to start pod practise!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, we know, Reg, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>some</span>
  </em>
  <span>one decided to flake on my performance today in favour of fueling his obsession with the humans.” Julie cuts her eyes at Alex and Luke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And suddenly, it’s like the prison he forced the ink into doesn’t exist at all, and it’s taken over his head, and his mind is racing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, enough. We got this already from dad. We got it, we messed up. Now can we </span>
  <em>
    <span>please </span>
  </em>
  <span>focus on something else?” shouts Alex, suddenly frustrated with the whole sea. What’s so wrong with a little fascination with the humans?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie, Luke, and Reggie are looking at Alex with a mixture of shock and bewilderment. Julie is the first to speak. “Alex, are you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s hands have pulled the flumfers out of their seaweed almost subconsciously, and he’s gripping them tightly. He looks at each of them, and their looking back at him, concerned, and he feels sick to his stomach. “I’m - I’m sorry. I need my grotto to myself today.” The grotto is his, first and foremost, and he can kick them out when he needs to, and he can leave when someone else needs it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rest of the pod nods, understanding, after a few years, when Alex needs some Alex time. It’s the same for all of them, they care for each other. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They file out one by one, and Julie is the last. She stops in front of Alex, reaching her hand out for his shoulder and then pulling it back when he moves away from her. He doesn’t think he can stand to be touched right now. “Hey, Alex.” he meets her eyes. “It’s okay, bro. Just… come home when you’re ready, yeah?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods at her, and she exits the grotto, replacing the door behind her. Alex relaxes, safe somewhere only his pod knows about. Not even the king knows of this place’s existence, because if he did, it’d be the Mercers all over again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex sits behind his noisemakers, tapping one with a flumfer. He begins to play, letting his thoughts take over his mind and his hands move of their own accord.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s always had a fascination with humans, ever since he learned about them in the stories his birth parents told him. For a while, his parents found it cute, and then annoying, and then hateful. He’d come home from school, his eyes shining, holding a new thingamabob he’d found, and one of his parents would slap it out of his hand, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s not the way a merboy acts, Alexander.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They used to call him Alex. When he’d become a disappointment, they called him Alexander, or </span>
  <em>
    <span>boy</span>
  </em>
  <span>. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Alexander, bring me my looking glass! </span>
  </em>
  <span>from his mom.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Come here, boy, let me see your schoolwork Don’t make me ask twice. </span>
  </em>
  <span>from his dad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>One day, he’d let slip that maybe, just maybe, he’d like to be a human, see what it’s like to walk around up there where instead of his pink tail and fins, he’d have… what are they called?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh, right.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Feet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And, well, that’d been the last straw for his parents. They shoved a woven seaweed bag holding all his human possessions at him, and forced him out the door.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’d been two years ago. He’d been sixteen. He’d found the grotto soon after, and stayed there until he was discovered by Julie, and, well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>She saved him. The octopus ink was taking over his mind nearly every day by then, every time he glanced over his shoulder, he thought he saw his parents, there to sweep his growing collection out of his hand, yell at him. He never liked yelling. He held tightly to his human possessions, filled the crevices of his grotto with them, inked that someone would take them all away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie took him in, introduced him to her dad, and the king adopted him as one of his own.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From there, he met Luke and Reggie, and now he’s here, banging out sounds from his noisemakers, using the flumfers he’d risked his life to get today.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Is it really worth it? All this, all this wishing, and dreaming, just to see the humans jumping, dancing?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stops beating the noisemaker, he drops his flumfers. That’s it. He needs to know. He’s going to the surface. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s going to have a look.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Chapter Two</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>As Alex comes closer to the surface of the water, he sees the bottom of a wooden ship, this one floating perfectly on the water. He swims closer, breaking the surface just next to it.</p><p>The ink is forgotten, because he hears humans. Humans! Actual, real-life humans! He pulls himself up to a ledge on the side of the ship, peering through a square hole at the humans, moving and dancing. He wishes he could dance like that.</p><p>They’re laughing and singing, and the coverings they have on their feet are tapping against the wooden floorboards of the ship. Alex swishes his tail to the beat of the songs that the humans are singing.</p><p>An especially small and furry human noses his way over to Alex and licks his face. Alex is stunned for a moment, then giggles to himself. He’s just been licked by a human!</p><p>“Max! Hey, what’re you doing, boy?” the small furry human bounds away, and Alex’s eyes follow it to black foot coverings and blue leg fabrics. His eyes travel up, taller than the furry human, and the human he’s looking at is the most beautiful creature he’s ever seen.</p><p>He has light brown skin, and long hair that is swept over his shoulder in a braid, a few wisps escaping, and he’s laughing at the small furry human, who is bounding up to reach him, its hands on the human’s legs. He’s wearing a white cloth covering where Alex’s people would normally just have shells, and there is a small oddly shaped charm on a necklace, hanging around his neck. Alex wraps a hand around the gold chain he always has around his own neck, the brother of a gold hoop pierced through the top of his ear.</p><p>The human scratches the small furry one in between the ears and Alex hears him say, “you silly dog! What were you looking for over there?”</p><p>The human turns his head over to where Alex is peering in, and Alex snaps back against the side of the ship, breathing hard.</p><p>Dog. This must be the name for the creature that the smaller furry human is. Like how Bobby isn’t a merman, he’s a crab. Dog. Alex smiles, trying the word out on his tongue. He likes it.</p><p>He glances back to his peeping hole, and the beautiful human is no longer looking at Alex. He smiles to himself and goes pack to peeping.</p><p>The beautiful human has moved to the other side of the ship, and is sitting precariously on one of the rails. He’s talking with an older human, who seems to be scolding him. Alex strains his ears to listen.</p><p>“-get married, William, what will the kingdom think otherwise?”</p><p>“I don’t want to, Grimsby. I want to stay an unwed bachelor boy forever and ever and skate the streets of my kingdom.” he’s smiling a little. Alex likes it.</p><p>The older human, Grimsby, huffs. “William. You’re eighteen. Your father was engaged to a lovely woman, your mother, two years before then!”</p><p>William’s face suddenly changes, shifting into something like what Alex has seen before on King Molina’s face when someone mentions his late queen, Julie’s mother.</p><p>“Yes, Grimsby. And I know that I’m not living up to my father’s wishes of me. But I don’t have to. I never did everything he said, and he and I always agreed that my marriage was to be my decision!” </p><p>Grimsby, looking as though suddenly realising he’s offended a prince (Alex gets that face a lot, understandably, he doesn’t look the part to fitting in with the Molina family.) (He doesn’t get offended, though, it’s just that people think he does), and backs off. </p><p>“Yes, sire. My apologies.” he bows to William, who has a faint smile back on his face. </p><p>“That’s quite all right, Grimsby.” he says, and nods at the human, who nods back, and steps away with a flourish. </p><p>Alex’s eyes stay trained on William, who has his eyes trained on the sea. </p><p>His lips are moving, but Alex can’t make it out over the sudden increase in volume from the rest of the humans on board the ship.</p><p>“Yes, yes, well in honor of Prince William’s birthday, I had this specially commissioned!” </p><p>Alex and William’s eyes both cut over to where Grimsby is standing, his hand sweeping away a cloth covering a huge gizmo. What in the sea?</p><p>It’s a statue, like the ones in Alex’s kingdom of the late Queen Rose, and of King Ray. But this one is of the beautiful - what was the word Grimsby had called William? Oh, right. Boy. <br/>This statue was of the beautiful boy, William, his hand on his hip and his eyes looking out into the sky.</p><p>One of the other humans on the ship guffaws, and through his laughter, he chokes out, “spitting image, Willie! Truly!”</p><p>Willie. Well, that is. That’s adorable. Willie.</p><p>Willie glares at the human who is laughing, and forces a smile onto his face. “Thank you, Grimsby, I really appreciate it.”</p><p>Grimsby nods proudly, and the whole ship is silent for a minute, taking in the statue. Why are they so quiet? When someone gives you art under the sea, you take time to appreciate it loudly and openly.</p><p>The silence is broken by a voice, laced with octopus ink, shouting from above all of them, Alex and the humans. “Hurricane! There’s - there’s a hurricane coming!”</p><p>It’s like a transition between a slow song to a fast and upbeat one. The humans start talking over one another, and running all around the floor of the ship. Alex swings his pink tail, ink tickling his mind. Is everything all right?</p><p>He knows what a hurricane is, remembers it from the stories his birth parents told him when he was young, but he’s never seen one in real life. Ray closes the gates to the kingdom and calls all his people back inside whenever there is one raging up above.</p><p>The humans are racing about, pulling on the many ropes that look to be holding the ship together, and Alex can feel it begin to sway underneath him. He holds on to the ledge he’s sat upon, and keeps his eyes trained on Willie.</p><p>The boy is holding on to a rope, his braid flying in the wind behind him. Alex can see the look on his face as the ship veers suddenly, like a cloud of octopus ink has suddenly engulfed his mind.</p><p>The ship veers toward rocks, and Alex recognises them to look a lot like the ones holding the shipwreck from earlier hostage. If this ship crashes into them, it’s sure to crack in half, with Alex and Willie still on it!</p><p>The humans race over the floor of the ship, shouting orders at each other, “pull that line!”, “Wilson, get the wheel!” </p><p>They seem to be trying to evade the rocks, but Alex knows, from his earliest days of learning to swim, once the sea sets you on course for something, it is very hard to break that course.</p><p>When the ship collides with the rocks, Alex is thrown back into the water. It wraps him in it’s waves like a hug, and holds him steady, and he sees Willie being thrown from the ship, too, his braid unraveling and his hair flying up behind his head.</p><p>Alex sees where he lands, beginning to sink through the water, not far from where Alex is currently floating, and he swims as fast as he can toward the boy, catching him by the shoulders and pulling him back up toward the surface. The wind is howling around them when they break the surface, and water from the sky is pelting Alex’s face.</p><p>He drags Willie as far as he can, away from the hurricane and toward where Alex thinks land is. It’s light out when Alex, breathing heavily, forces Willie up on to the sand of real land.</p><p>He looks closely, is Willie… is he dead? Alex fears so for a moment, and then he notices Willie’s chest moving up and down, and he lets out a breath of his own. No, not dead, just knocked out.</p><p>Alex climbs on top of a rock, just on the edge of the land and sea. He stares at the unconscious boy on the sand in front of him. See, Dad, I’m not on land, per se.</p><p>It’s then that Alex feels the tendrils of the octopus ink seeping through his mind, and out of habit, he reaches for his flumfers, in their seaweed. Of course, they aren’t there, they’re back in his grotto where he’d dropped them, and his hands grasp empty air. He brings them up around his tail, and he rocks himself back and forth a bit.</p><p>He’s inky about a lot of things. He’s inky about the beautiful boy who might not wake up (he’s seen it happen before to a fish that he’d saved from a human’s hook: it’s still alive, still breathing, forever sleeping). He’s inky about what could happen if Ray ever found out about this, he’s inky about his pod, waiting for him back home.</p><p>He wants to distract himself, wants to fill the empty air around him with sound, but he doesn’t have his flumfers, and even if he did, his hands are shaking, so he doesn’t think he’d be able to play at all. So he does the only thing he can think of.</p><p>He opens his mouth and starts to sing.  </p><p>It’s a song that he and the pod have been working on, just the chorus, I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see, and you’re a part of me, hands up if you’re with me, now till eternity, hands up if you believe, been so long, and now I’m finally free.</p><p>He doesn’t notice Willie shifting, only when he sits up, rubbing his eyes and blinking. “What - hello?”</p><p>Alex snaps his head up and stares at the boy, his eyes blinking rapidly. The ink and the lessons he’s been taught about humans take over and he leaps from the rock into the sea, leaving Willie alone on the sand.</p><p>When Alex gets back home, Julie is pacing in front of the gate to the palace. She looks up when Alex swims back, a small smile on his face. Once he’d processed what had happened, he’d come to the realisation that Oh, Poseidon, I just saw actual, real-life humans! One of them licked me! I saved one!</p><p>Julie has ink in her eyes. "Where in the sea have you been? You missed dinner, Lexie, and I've been evading Dad for as long as I can, but he's got that face on when Bobby tells him to say the wrong thing at an assembly."</p><p>Alex furrows his brow, unresponsive to the nickname. Ray isn't always this testy, but then Alex did pull another human stunt today. He swims into the throne room, Julie close behind.</p><p>"Alex! Where in the sea have you been?" is the first thing he hears when he swims up to his father's throne. Like father, like daughter.</p><p>Any residual giddiness he was feeling about seeing real humans quickly dissipates, replaced by the ink.</p><p>"I'm - I'm sorry. I needed some time to myself, and I lost track of time. It won't happen again."</p><p>The king raises an eyebrow. "Is that so? Then why, when I had Bobby follow you, did he report that you went to the surface?" </p><p>Alex's eyes widen. "I…" he trails off. There is no reasonable explanation for this. The king rises to his fins.</p><p>"Alex, you have a lovely fascination with the world above. I love this about you. But not when it could threaten your life. You are to stop feeding your desire for the human world. Do I make myself clear?"</p><p>Alex ducks his head, a faint tinge of shame coming to his cheeks. "Yes, sir." he mutters.</p><p>When Ray has deemed it all right for him to leave, Alex swims away, past Julie's - and now Luke's and Reggie's - outstretched hands, and heads straight for his grotto. He sits behind his noisemakers, but does not grab for his flumfers like he usually would, too lost in his ink-addled thoughts.</p><p>It really seems like he can't stop lying to his father. Not only is this morally wrong, it also could be considered treason if he weren't Ray's son. </p><p>But the human world is so enticing, and if Willie is any indication, the humans are truly beautiful. He doesn't see how Ray can't seem to understand that.</p><p>There's a knock on the stone door to his grotto. One knock, a pause, three more, and then a scratch with a fingernail. That's Julie, the knock she used when she used to visit him, before he became her brother. He clears his throat.</p><p>"Come in."</p><p>The rock moves away, and Julie ducks inside, one arm over her bare stomach and holding the opposite arm, her purple tail curling the way Alex's does when he can feel the octopus ink seeping in. "Hey, Jules. What's up?"</p><p>Julie replaces the stone and sits on her keyno bench. "I need to tell you something. About our dad. And… and my mom."</p><p>Alex straightens. This is new. The only thing he knows about the late Queen Rose is that she'd died two years ago, just before he'd met Julie.</p><p>"Queen Rose… Mom. She was killed by humans." Julie says to her tail.</p><p>Alex's eyes widen. </p><p>"She was going up to the surface, to meet a human friend of hers, and she was killed by a passing ship. It wasn't intentional, as far as we know, but that's the reason why Dad gets so inky about you being so fascinated with humans. He used to love them. He was friends with them, we had trades with them. But then Mom was killed and Dad… Dad took it as a personal attack. He cut off all connection to humans. That’s why he so adamant about you stopping your fascination.”</p><p>Alex is silent. "I'm sorry, Jules. I didn't know. I didn’t know any of that. We really had trades with the humans? Over two years ago?”</p><p>Julie nods.</p><p>“I… I’m not going to stop my collection. I love them all so much, it’s all so interesting to me. I want to prove to the king that humans aren’t all that bad, you know?”</p><p>Julie looks at Alex with red eyes. She rubs her hand under her eye. "I understand. Just. Be cautious, okay?"</p><p>Alex smiles, tapping his head. "Aren't I always?"</p><p>Julie smiles back, and there is a moment of peace.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you so much for reading, as always, kudos and comments are g r e a t l y appreciated, as they let me know you all really care about this fic!<br/>i hope you liked this chapter as much as i liked writing it :)</p><p>fair winds, my lovely readers!<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps here's a link to a discord server you can join to talk with other humans about things ranging from jatp to the riordanverse (it's also linked in my chat fic): <a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">Discord!</a></p><p>pps if you want to see the inner workings of my fabulous mind (jk its not all that fabulous) come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. Chapter Three</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Their peace is interrupted when the stone door is suddenly ripped away, and King Ray explodes into the grotto, his face tight with rage.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"What. Is. This."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex and Julie are staring at the king, eyes wide and hands over their hearts, breathing hard at the surprise. Alex is the first to speak.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"It's my… my collection."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king shakes his head. "I could barely believe it when Bobby told me, but here, seeing it, Alexander, how </span>
  <em>
    <span>dare</span>
  </em>
  <span> you defy me?"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He advances on Alex, who cowers behind his noisemakers. Alex can vaguely hear Julie alternating between scolding Bobby and calling for their dad to stop, it was a mistake, Alex is sorry, but it's faint over the rushing in Alex's ears and the ink that has taken over his brain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Alexander, as king, and as your </span>
  <em>
    <span>father</span>
  </em>
  <span>," Ray says, gripping his trident tightly, "I have set out few rules for you. The only rule that I have seen you </span>
  <em>
    <span>continuously </span>
  </em>
  <span>violate and ignore is that of my request to </span>
  <em>
    <span>stop</span>
  </em>
  <span> feeding the dangerous curiosity you have for the world up there. The humans are </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>our friends, Alexander. They are enemies, they will kill us and they will have no mercy on us.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex says nothing, his lip caught between his teeth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can’t believe Bobby ratted him out twice today. They’re friends! Alex is one of the best performers Bobby has, when he bothers to show up to rehearsals!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>does </span>
  </em>
  <span>miss a bit of practise, in favour of searching for human treasures.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"Perhaps," the king says, "I will take the curiosity away for you."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He readies his trident, glowing with golden light, and points it at a ball in one of the crevices of his grotto. Power shoots out from the trident, hitting the ball and arching away from it, hitting Alex's gizmos at random, shattering them into little bits. Alex can feel his heart breaking in two. Years and years of work searching and sorting, fueling his desires, gone, with one blast from a trident.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then his father turns the trident on the noisemakers in front of him, and Alex cries out, "no, wait, not my noisemakers, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please</span>
  </em>
  <span>!"</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But the trident is already sending out power, and the noisemakers dissipate entirely. Alex backs away from King Ray, his back hitting the wall of his grotto. Ray stops in front of him, glaring, and turns around, toward the door. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t want to admit it to himself, but for a moment, Ray reminds him of his birth parents.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king can’t make any noise as he moves through the water, but his rage is loud enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he leaves, Alex is still backed up against the grotto wall, his hand pressed to his mouth, sobs wracking his body.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He could have handled just the collection being zapped, but his noisemakers, his one source of escape… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just like that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie inches forward, her hands out in a non harmful gesture, ink in her eyes. “Lexie?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex can’t meet her eyes, can’t do anything except cry. “Lexie, I’m going to go get the guys, okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex says nothing, doesn’t move, but Julie seems to get the message radiating from her brother loud and clear: </span>
  <em>
    <span>help</span>
  </em>
  <span>. She flaps her tail and swims out through the hole in the grotto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s hands move to his eyes, and he has them pressed so hard against them that he sees pearls. It’s getting harder and harder to breathe.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, you poor dear.” a voice flits through the water around him, soft and silky smooth. “Old Ray has really done a number on you, hasn’t he?” comes a second voice, the opposite of the first, rough and evil.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex lifts his head away from his hands and sees two eels floating in the water ahead of him, each with one yellow eye and one white eye, and he recognises them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dante and Fue - Fuego.” he stutters out. The eels grin, wriggling in the water like it pleases them to be seen. “Ah, so you know us.” says the first, Dante, or maybe Fuego. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex glares at the two eels. He’s been warned of their tricks enough times before. “What do you want?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Fuego, or maybe Dante, tuts. “Such hostility! We’re simply here to help you!” Dante, or maybe Fuego, joins in not a second later. “Yes, yes, we’re here to help you get what you want, through our master, Caleb Covington!” they both say the name. It’s almost creepy how in sync the two are.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen. He really should have expected this, Dante and Fuego have only ever served one master, and that’s Caleb Covington. The feared sea witch that Alex’s father banished from the kingdom long ago. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Every now and then, a merperson will disappear for a few days, and come back changed. They will have a different personality, longer hair, a different body, or the mer that they’ve been pining after for years will finally fall in love with them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Every now and then, they’ll disappear and come back changed, the same but somehow… dimmer, like something is missing from their souls. And they’ll complain about having these… these phantom pains. Sometimes, the ones that come back will disappear again, never to be seen again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only thing that is physically different about them is a small purple stamp on the inside of their wrists.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The kingdom knows that it’s Covington’s doing, what’s happening to these merfolk, but no one wants to believe he’s still out there, so these disappearances will be covered up by the general public, and only those who notice when something is wrong in their world will notice the missing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The last disappearance was over three years ago, though, and though no one wants to admit to hating a brother of the sea, the whole kingdom is secretly hoping Covington had been killed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dante and Fuego’s presence here changes everything, with the added bonus of their confirmation that Caleb is alive and kicking. Alex wants to inch away, but he is still pressed up against the wall. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dante and Fuego swim closer to him, grinning like maniacs. “Our master can grant you your greatest wish, young Alexander. Our master can give you legs, give you the ability to walk amongst those you so admire.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The two eels speak over one another, finishing and starting each other’s sentences.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t want to believe it. “He can do that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The eels roll their eyes at each other and say, “darling, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>magick</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He can do </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is silent for a moment, considering. He can’t believe he’s doing this, but he’s in shock and his noisemakers are gone and he’s alone in his turned-upside-down grotto with two evildoers. He reaches out a hand to shake one of their fins, to take their bargain, and then he hears his pod shouting outside the grotto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yo, Alex, let’s get out of here! Do something, play a prank on Flynn!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Luke</span>
  </em>
  <span>, we are not playing a prank on Flynn!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, hey, I wrote a new song, it’s called ‘Home is Where My Seahorse is’, wanna hear it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Pretty sure he doesn’t want to hear another one of your songs, Reg.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys, let’s give him a minute. He’ll come out when he wants.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex draws his hand back. “I - I can’t.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dante and Fuego look at each other and shrug. “Suit yourself.” Dante, or maybe Fuego, says. “Just a suggestion.” says Fuego, or maybe Dante, and with a flick of their tails, they’re off and away from Alex. Just before they vanish into the shadows, Dante, or maybe Fuego, flicks his tail at something Alex can’t quite see, and it floats through the water toward Alex. It’s one of his flumfers, and he grabs it out of habit. He’s both filled with joy and dismayed by its presence in his hand, how right it feels, how it’s calling out to be banged against a noisemaker.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It hurts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He calls out, “wait!” to the eels, and rises to his fins, grabbing the other flumfer and sliding them both into their seaweed. The eels quickly return, as though they’d never left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, little darling?” they ask.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex wipes his nose. “I’ll… I’ll go with you.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The eels cackle, short, villainous laughs that only last a moment. “Of course you will, little darling.” they surge toward Alex suddenly, wrapping themselves around him and creating a ripcurrent that drags him upward, they shoot toward the hole in the grotto ceiling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the three make it through the hole, Alex looks back, the ink making its home in his head in the form of fear of going to meet Covington, and the fear of causing his pod pain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex looks back, and his pod is looking up at him, waving their arms and shouting. They might follow him, they might not. He hopes they don’t. It’d cause more trouble for them if they do.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The eels take him out of his kingdom and toward the place where he found the shipwreck, and then deep into the murky depths of the sea where any merperson living in the Molina’s kingdom is forbidden to go, is afraid to go.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They swim into the mouth of a cave, and the walls are covered with some kind of algae that makes Alex’s stomach flip. Except it’s not algae, because one reaches out and grabs his wrist, moaning indistinguishable words. He lets out a squeak and freezes, and the eels heave a great sigh, dragging him away from the hold of the strange algae and deeper into the cave.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come in, come in, don’t be shy!” comes a haunting voice from still deeper in the cave. “It’s only me here, and you, of course. So come in, bring me some much needed company, little dorsal fin!” It’s a voice that is lilting and poetic, and sounds like it was built for music. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex, suddenly abandoned by the eels</span>
  <em>
    <span> (just like you abandoned your pod, </span>
  </em>
  <span>the ink whispers in his mind), swims through a small hole through which the voice is echoing, and finds himself in a room that contains a well-lit mirror in one corner, a shelf full of bottles in another, and the bottom of a clam in another. It also contains a strange kind of merperson, octopus tentacles instead of a tail, sitting on a chair in front of the mirror. He spins around to look at Alex, chest bare save for a seashell pendant, and Alex knows that this is Caleb Covington.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>An easy smile comes to the sea witch’s face, and he says, “Alexander Molina. Ray’s little prince. Dear child, how can I help you?” Alex clears his throat. “Dant - Dante and Fuego said that you could give me legs.” Covington arches an eyebrow. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Did </span>
  </em>
  <span>they, now?” Alex nods. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>can </span>
  </em>
  <span>do that. You want legs? Simple. You see…” he rises from the chair, his arms wide, the shell pendant glowing a soft purple, and Alex has seen a look like the one on his face before, on Bobby’s face when they’re doing a performance. He’s going to give Alex a show.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I help unfortunate merfolk like yourself. Yes, those poor unfortunate souls, I’m sure you’ve heard of them, they that go missing in your kingdom, hmmm? Those poor unfortunate souls, in such pain, in such need. They come flocking to my club here, crying </span>
  <em>
    <span>spells, Covington, please!</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and I help them, yes indeed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s rhyming like there’s no tomorrow, and Alex’s fingers begin to tap out a beat on his tail. Caleb moves closer to Alex, and Alex does not freeze or run. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Covington trails his tentacles across Alex’s tail. He moves past Alex with the same finesse as one of Bobby’s performers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s happened once or twice. Someone couldn’t pay the price, and I’m afraid I’ve had to rake them across the coals,” he gestures to the strange algae that Alex passed on his way in, “yes, I’ve had the odd complaint, but on the </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole</span>
  </em>
  <span>, I’ve been a </span>
  <em>
    <span>saint</span>
  </em>
  <span>, for those poor unfortunate souls.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s fingers are still moving, and Covington has moved across the room to his shelf of glass bottles, still singing, or perhaps it’s monologuing, to Alex. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and there is one more thing. We haven’t discussed the matter of payment.” he pokes his head out from where it is stuck in a shelf. Alex swallows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I - I don’t have…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not asking much, just a token really, a trifle!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, but I don’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>have</span>
  </em>
  <span>…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What I want, dear child,” he’s stopped singing, and he’s moved closer to Alex, two of his tentacles are wrapped around Alex’s tail. “Is your voice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex blinks. His voice? What an odd request. Well, he doesn’t speak much anyway, does he?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He suddenly remembers the whole reason why he’s here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Land. Humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But without my voice, how can I-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb waves a hand, dismissive. “Oh, little darling, you won’t need your </span>
  <em>
    <span>voice</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You have your </span>
  <em>
    <span>looks</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You have your little noisemaker talent, don’t you?” he moves over to the clam shell and starts throwing bottles in haphazardly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Land. Humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can get by without his voice! He barely ever uses it outside of the pod, and it’s not like </span>
  <em>
    <span>they’re </span>
  </em>
  <span>coming!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Land. Humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Land. Humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex blinks. “I- okay!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“No, Alex! Don’t!” he hears a whisper on the edge of his hearing, and he thinks it’s Luke, but no, probably just a phantom of a memory.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb looks up from his shell. “Okay, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what?</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex sets his jaw. “Okay, I’ll give you my voice. In exchange for legs and life up there.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb glances up, a smirk on his face. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>And </span>
  </em>
  <span>a try with that boy of yours? William?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Okay, yeah, maybe a little part of his brain is hoping he sees Willie again, just a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>part, but even </span>
  <em>
    <span>if </span>
  </em>
  <span>he gets up on land, what are the chances of him being able to </span>
  <em>
    <span>find </span>
  </em>
  <span>the beautiful boy with the long brown hair?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex blinks. “How did you-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Darling, I know </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Now, to take my spell, just sign </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>scroll,” he conjures a  golden, glowing scroll from midwater, “and it’s over and done, I know you won’t break my contract.” He holds out a fishbone quill to Alex, and he takes it, trying not to think too hard about the fish that was probably killed to make this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He reaches out to sign his name, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Alexander Molina</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and then…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and one more thing, darling.” says Caleb. “He has to kiss you within three days, or you turn back into a merboy, and spend the rest of your poor unfortunate life here, with me. Three days for him to kiss you, little darling, or your soul, and your voice, is mine forever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen. Three days to kiss a boy he barely knows, who might not even be interested in kissing him at all? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Land. Humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He signs the scroll, and Caleb cackles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Now, darling, </span>
  <em>
    <span>sing</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex opens his mouth. “Sing? I - I don’t really… I mean, I’m not all that good.” Caleb rolls his eyes. “Oh please, you’d be better than that sister of yours if you weren’t too clam to own up to it. And for the spell to work, I need your voice, darling. So, </span>
  <em>
    <span>sing</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shakes his head and opens his mouth again, this time carrying a tune.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The cave begins to fill with a purple light, and Caleb cackles. “Yes, yes, keep singing!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>And you’re a part of me, hands up if you’re with me.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now till eternity, hands up if you believe,</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Been so long and now we’re finally free…”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The purple light shines brighter and brighter, and Alex can’t see.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>On the last “free”, Alex stops singing, suddenly realising that he… </span>
  <em>
    <span>can’t</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He can’t breathe either, and he looks down and there is not a tail, swishing through the water, anymore, there are… </span>
  <em>
    <span>legs!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at Covington with a grin, and tries to thank him, but cannot. He apparently gets the message across, though, because Caleb graspes his wrist and says, “oh, no, little darling, thank </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” When he pulls his hand away, there is a purple stamp on Alex’s wrist, and Alex stares at it as it fades away. He recognises it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> He looks at Caleb questioningly, and Caleb waves his hand, “oh, it’s just a little reminder of the time you have left, don’t worry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods, and he’s there for a moment, and then Caleb claps his hands together, “well, you’d better get to the surface before you suffocate. Humans don’t have gills, you know.” he’s fingering the shell pendant around his neck.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Right, right</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swims out of the cave, but he feels a little woozy. Maybe from the lack of oxygen? He sees pearls, and begins to feel himself losing consciousness.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh no, you don’t.” comes a tired voice. A pair of arms grabs one of his, and another pair grabs his other arm. A final pair wraps around his waist, and he shoots toward the surface of the water.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he breaks the surface and is thrown up on land, the arms unwrap themselves from his body, and he focuses enough to see his three best friends glaring at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What the </span>
  <em>
    <span>Covington</span>
  </em>
  <span> were you </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Lexie?” starts Julie, her arms folded across her purple shells. “That witch is so dangerous, we </span>
  <em>
    <span>literally </span>
  </em>
  <span>use his name as a swear!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke leans in. “Yeah, I agree with Jules, this is a really bad idea. You could get seriously hurt! And not to burst your bubble, but, like… what if you </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>get him to kiss you in three days? What then, Lexie? We can’t be a music pod without our noisemaker-er!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reggie nods. “Yeah, Alex, that was a stupid move. Coming from me! I do stupid things enough to know!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex can’t do anything but stare at them, and he’s grinning. He’s got </span>
  <em>
    <span>legs</span>
  </em>
  <span>! Actual, real life </span>
  <em>
    <span>legs! </span>
  </em>
  <span>They’re here, there are feet attached to them! He’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>human! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Oh, Poseidon, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>human! </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He feels something missing, though, and it’s not his voice. He looks down and realises, yup, he doesn’t have any coverings. Under the sea, that’s not a big deal, just throw on some shells and you’re good, but on land? Alex knows enough about them to know he shouldn’t walk around like this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex. Alex!” Julie snaps her fingers in front of his face and he snaps his eyes back to her. She huffs. “Poseidon, this is weird. Okay, so you’re human, and unless you kiss this Willie guy, you’re going to turn into weird algae in Covington’s cave?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reggie lifts a finger. “Oh, we were spying on you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke elbows him. “Yeah, Reg, I think he got that, now going back to Julie’s question…?” he turns to look at Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods giddily. Luke sighs. “Well, I guess you’re gonna kiss Willie.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you so much for reading! as always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated! this fic was inspired by the talented <a href="https://thesunwillart.tumblr.com/">@thesunwillart</a> on tumblr, definitely go check out her work if you want more willex content! the title is from our very own jeremy shada's "Ballerina" :)</p><p>fair winds, lovely readers<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps here's a link to a discord server that you can join to talk about your fandoms and find people like you!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/nYeMzSFd">discord!</a><br/>pps come scream at me on <a href="fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com">tumblr</a> to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind :)</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Chapter Four</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The first thing that happens is this: Alex gets a covering for his new human body. It’s a cloth that looks like the ones they use on ships, and some rope, tied around him in such a way that it manages to cover his whole body. It turns out that Reggie, for usually not wearing any covering, is quite the human fashion designer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The four of them snap their heads up when they hear a sound in the distance, the same sound the small furry human… </span>
  <em>
    <span>dog</span>
  </em>
  <span> was making yesterday on the ship, a voice filled with laughter calling after it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Humans! Coming closer! </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke, Reggie, and Julie all leap back into the safety of the ocean, and Alex makes to follow them, and then remembers, </span>
  <em>
    <span>wait</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he’s human now, he doesn’t have to worry about other humans finding him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You got this, Lexie!” are the whispered words from the sea, three voices overlapping. “We’ll stay close!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a large rock nearby, and Alex grasps on to it, pulling himself up on wobbly legs(!). He practises walking, holding on to the rock. He’s getting the hang of it now!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The sand beneath his feet(!) is warm, and it gets in between his toes(!!!), and he revels in the feeling. He kicks his feet and the sand flies up into the hair. Alex delights in it, smiling hard and laughing silently.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then his whole front is covered in sand, and there’s a pressure on his back, quickly joined by something heavier. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, sorry, sorry! Max and I totally pancaked you!” says a voice. The pressure lets up, and Alex turns around. Oh, Poseidon, it’s Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, there’s his first problem fixed: find Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s holding onto the dog, which he called </span>
  <em>
    <span>Max</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and he’s looking at Alex with a small smile on his face. “I’m Willie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex grins, waving excitedly. The boy laughs. “Hi!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then his brow furrows, and he stares at Alex in a new light. “Say, are you… are you who I’m looking for?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shrugs, confused, and Willie laughs. “Oh, sorry, I just… I was in a shipwreck yesterday, and I nearly died, I think, but I got knocked out, and then next thing I know, I’m on the beach, and someone is singing. I’ve been spending the day looking for them, to thank them for… you know, I think they saved my life. This is a long shot, but… do you know me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He remembers!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods excitedly, his eyes wide. Willie grins. “Really? Wow, I, holy crap, what’s your name?” Alex opens his mouth to respond, and then remembers he can’t. He gestures to his throat and shakes his head, reaching for a stick in the sand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie’s face falls. “Oh. You… you can’t talk. You aren’t who I’m looking for after all. I’m sorry to bother you.” he makes to walk away, but Alex scrambles to his feet(!) and grabs the covering over his chest, and when Willie looks back, Alex shakes his head. He wants to bring Willie’s smile back. It was so pretty.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He draws his name in the sand, A-L-E-X, and then points at himself. Willie nods. “Your… your name is Alex?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods, and then draws an arrow pointing to the sea. Willie’s eyes widen. “You washed up on shore? Were you in a shipwreck?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex almost shakes his head </span>
  <em>
    <span>no</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but he stops himself, the words of the king echoing in his mind, </span>
  <em>
    <span>the humans are </span>
  </em>
  <span>not </span>
  <em>
    <span>our friends, Alexander. They are our enemies. They will kill us and have no mercy on us</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He nods at Willie, who brings his hands up to cover his mouth. “Oh, I’m… I’m so sorry. Listen,” he says, taking Alex’s shoulder. “Come with me. I’m kind of… a prince, and you could stay in the palace where I live, at least for a bit. Would that be okay? It’s probably a bit dangerous for you to walk around like this, anyway.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods, and Willie grins at him. Alex mentally pats himself on the back. “Great! So…” he takes Alex’s hand. “I’ll just… take you up to the palace.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex lets himself be led, if a bit unstable-like, up the beach, Max bounding ahead. He casts his eyes back to the water a few times and sees the unmistakable spray of water that appears only when a merperson is swimming along the surface and smiles to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His friends have got his back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The palace sits on the top of cliffs facing the beach. When they reach it, Willie turns Max loose, and he goes bounding away. Willie takes Alex inside and up stairs that Alex takes a minute to climb. They reach a set of simple doors, and Willie turns the handle on one, taking Alex inside. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“This is uh… this is my room.” he says, gesturing around at the small space. Alex looks around. It’s a lot different than the rooms at the palace under the sea. It looks as though Willie tried to make it as non-royal as possible. Alex finds that a bit strange, but doesn’t bring it up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s also a bit strange that Willie barely knows Alex, and yet he’s invited him up to the palace to stay. Things like this don’t happen under the sea. It took Julie </span>
  <em>
    <span>weeks </span>
  </em>
  <span>for Alex to trust her, and at least a month after that for him to let her into his grotto.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The room has three bare walls and one wall that’s just a window. This is the only thing about the room that says “I am not a plebian.” It overlooks the sea, and Alex can understand now that it’s for a reason. Willie’s walking on the beach, his staring out to sea on the ship last night, his apparent trusting of Alex, who comes from the sea. This boy has a connection with Alex’s home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex.” he snaps his head to look at Willie, who is smiling and holding out a stack of fabric. Alex looks at Willie questioningly, and Willie laughs. “They’re clothes. You don’t want to go around wearing nothing but a ship’s sail and rope, do you?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh. So </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>what the coverings are called. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Clothes</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Alex takes the clothes and nods his thanks. He stands there, because he somehow knows that maybe he shouldn’t put these on in front of Willie. Willie jumps. “Oh, right, sorry.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He leaves the room, “I’ll be outside. Actually, I should uh, I should go let someone know you’re here. Back in a few minutes.” he shoots Alex a smile as he leaves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex pulls the clothes on with some difficulty, thankfully it mostly makes sense from how he’s seen other humans wear them. The clothes that cover his chest is pink, and he smiles at that. He still has his gold necklace and earring, but his seaweed seems to have dissolved. There’s only one thing left, a strange kind of bag that looks almost like his seaweed, but it definitely isn’t seaweed.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He opens the door, and Willie’s leaning against the wall outside. He looks up when Alex opens the door, and smiles. “Hey, you look good!” Alex blushes, and then holds up the bag questioningly. Willie looks confused for a moment, and then understanding grows in his eyes. “Oh! That! It’s called a fanny pack, I noticed you were wearing something like it, made out of seaweed, and that isn’t exactly something that you’d wear here, so I… I figured you might want it.” Alex grins. This boy really is nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at the fanny pack in his hands, not knowing how to put it on. Wille starts again. “Oh, uh, here.” he steps closer to Alex, taking the fanny pack from him. “Let me.” There's a clip that Alex hadn’t noticed before, and Wille unclips the pack, moving closer to Alex and setting it around his shoulders and under his arm, clipping it closed. “There.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is definitely blushing, and once Willie’s done, he steps away from the other boy, fidgeting with his hands. Willie smiles at him, taking one of his hands. “Come on. I cleared you with Grimsby, that’s the keeper of the palace, and I think dinner’s ready.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie leads him to a large room with a long table, dead center. Now </span>
  <em>
    <span>this </span>
  </em>
  <span>looks more like a palace. The hallways probably did too, but if he’s being honest with himself, he was too focused on his hand in Willie’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie still has not let go of Alex’s hand, and Alex doesn’t mind. His hand is smooth, unlike Alex’s, which are calloused with his constant noisemaker playing. Willie leads Alex to a window, pointing out toward the sea, where the sun is setting. “Beautiful, isn’t it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex has never seen the sea from above the surface before, and from this angle, it really is beautiful. He nods at Willie, smiling.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There is an </span>
  <em>
    <span>ahem</span>
  </em>
  <span> from behind them, and the two boys turn around, Willie dropping Alex’s hand (to his disappointment). “Ah, Grimsby. Hello.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The older human from the ship, Grimsby, is there, and he’s glaring at Willie and Alex. A little bit of ink seeps in, and Alex starts fidgeting with his clothes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“William. Tell me, is this the new friend you found on the beach?” He casts his eyes toward Alex, and Alex isn’t sure whether to nod or not. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Friend? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Already, Willie thinks he’s his friend?</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Yes, he is. This is Alex.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grimsby lifts an eyebrow. “Where does he come from?” Willie shrugs. “He washed up on shore from a shipwreck. He can’t speak.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grimsby huffs. “Well, if you’ve found a friend, it seems he excels at bringing a smile to your face, and I must say I’m happy to see that, but he can’t stay with us for very long.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a burning pain on the inside of Alex’s wrist, and he gasps, turning his arm toward him. The purple stamp Covington had given him is glowing, a purple three inside a circle turning into a two. The sun has gone down.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Three days for him to kiss you, little darling, or your soul is mine forever.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waves his hands to get Grimsby’s attention, then holds up two fingers. Grimsby looks puzzled for a moment, then turns to Willie. “He’s your friend. What is he saying?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He probably knows exactly what Alex means, but he seems the type to act ignorant of folk who don’t speak and act just like him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie looks at Alex’s fingers in understanding. “Two days. Let him stay for two days.” Alex nods. Grimsby huffs. “Well, that’ll be all right. Now, come, William and Alex. The meal is ready.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They take their seats around the table, Willie at the head, Alex and Grimsby on either side. A human comes through the doors Alex and Willie came in through, holding three covered platters, likely of food. She sets one down in front of each of them, and takes the cover off of each.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex lets out a sharp breath of air that wants to be a squeak. There is a </span>
  <em>
    <span>crab </span>
  </em>
  <span>on his plate. A crab! Bobby’s a crab. He can’t eat this! He looks at Grimsby and Willie, happily ripping apart their own crabs, and he feels sick. He can’t do this. He stands up from the table, the chair making a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>squeaking </span>
  </em>
  <span>sound against the wood of the floor. Willie and Grimsby look up from their platters, and Alex has his hand over his mouth, his eyes wide. They could be eating beings he knows, for all he knows.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ink suddenly shoots out of its cage, attacking Alex’s thoughts like the power from his father’s trident.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shakes his head violently, and Willie gets up, his hands out in a non harmful gesture. “Alex?” he asks. Alex can’t meet his eyes. Grimsby stands up, too. “What is this?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie waves a hand at Grimsby, still focusing on Alex. “Hey, what’s wrong?” Alex is still shaking his head, but he draws his hand away from his mouth to point at the crab. Willie, somehow, understands. “The crab? You don’t want to eat the crab?” Alex nods. “Okay, you don’t have to, it’s okay.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grimsby sputters. “What’s wrong with our crab? I can have it sent back to the kitchens and replaced with another if he so desires.” Alex shakes his head again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t think that’s it, Grimsby. Maybe we should just get him something without fish. Is that okay?” he directs the question at Alex, who nods. Grimsby grumbles. “Well, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>never</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes a small thingamabob out of his pocket and rings it, and the human who brought them their food appears. Grimsby whispers to her for a moment, and she nods and takes Alex’s plate, throwing him a kind eye as she passes. Willie puts his hand on Alex’s shoulder. “You okay now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie is just… </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>kind. He met Alex not an hour ago, and already, he’s offering him a place to stay in his palace, he’s trying to help him when the ink attacks, he’s calling him his </span>
  <em>
    <span>friend</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s breathing is still not full, but he thinks he’s starting to be okay, and he nods at Willie. He can sit down now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they eat (Alex is doing his best not to look at Grimsby’s and Willie’s plates), Grimsby talks. A lot. He talks to Willie about the state of the kingdom, about the complaints of its people, about </span>
  <em>
    <span>William why have you not taken care of anything yet? Heaven above, if you were married, this would be so much easier.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie doesn’t respond, he’s looking at Alex. Alex notices and blushes, looking down at his salad. “Hey, Alex, how would you like a tour of the kingdom tomorrow?” Alex looks up, grinning and nodding excitedly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grimsby groans. “More time wasted.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie chuckles. “Oh, come now, Grimsby. It’s only a day. I’ve got the rest of my life.” </span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>thank you so much for reading, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!</p><p>we're finally getting into le f l u f f and im v happy about that</p><p>happy valentines day, you lovely humans!</p><p>fair winds, my lovelies<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps heres a link to a discord server if you wanna join!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordd</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Chapter Five</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The rest of the night is spent with Willie, taking Alex around the palace. The palace is gold and shimmering in power, and at the end of the day, Willie’s room is almost bland. Willie sits down on his bed and Alex stands next to him awkwardly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What’s he supposed to do now?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie giggles. “You’re wired a little tight, aren’t you?” Alex smiles, laughing without sound, and sits next to Willie on the bed. They sit in silence for a minute, and then Willie hits Alex with the back of his hand, jumping up. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey. I’ve got an idea.” He walks over to the table sat in front of the windows and grabs a notepad and a pen from where they lay on top of it. He comes back to Alex, holding them out to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wanna talk?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex studies the notepad and pen, and then, understanding what Willie means, smiles and takes the pen and paper eagerly, nodding. Willie grins back, and settles back on the bed. “Okay. So. Here’s what I know about you: your name is Alex, you were in a shipwreck, you don’t like crabs… yeah I think that’s about it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex taps the pen against the pad and writes: </span>
  <em>
    <span>I like crabs. I don’t like eating crabs. They’re living things.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie reads it and nods. “Oh, okay, so you just don’t like eating living things in general?” Alex nods, writes: </span>
  <em>
    <span>If it is a creature from the sea, I won’t eat it</span>
  </em>
  <span>. This is the best way he can think of to describe his problem with eating creatures that might be his friends without giving himself away.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie nods. “That’s cool, man. Hey, can I keep asking you questions?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods back. They spend the rest of the night talking, Willie asking Alex questions about himself, Alex answering on the notepad. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>By the end of the night, Willie knows that Alex was kicked out of his home for ‘reasons Alex doesn’t want to share’, he knows Alex has three best friends: Julie, Luke, and Reggie, he knows Julie is his adopted sister, he knows that Julie and Luke are dating, he knows that Julie’s best friend Flynn is dating his performance friend, Carrie, he knows that Alex has a space where he lives called a grotto, and this is his personal space.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He learns a lot, and Alex is opening up to him so easily, it’s almost terrifying to him. Where is the ink that always seeps in whenever he tries to talk to someone outside his pod?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t bring up the noisemakers. They are still too raw, too personal, and the ink stops his hand every time he wants to write something about them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Willie starts to yawn, Alex smiles and picks up the notepad, writing one word on it: </span>
  <em>
    <span>sleep? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie reads it and nods. “Yeah. Hold on, let me just…” he gets up and stretches, his shirt (that’s the word for the covering humans wear over their chest, </span>
  <em>
    <span>cool</span>
  </em>
  <span>!) riding up over his stomach. Alex averts his eyes, blushing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie opens a door that Alex hadn’t seen before, withdrawing a few more pillows and blankets and spreading them out on the floor. “You can take my bed, I’ll sleep on the floor.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex goes bright red and shakes his head. Nope, nope, he’s not sleeping in Willie’s bed. The ink seeps in, feeling a little bit different, a little less bad, a little more… excited? He doesn’t know. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie laughs. “Okay, hot dog. You can sleep on the floor.” Alex cocks his head. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Hot dog</span>
  </em>
  <span>?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, since you turn red so often. And hot dogs are great and I’m going to buy you one tomorrow.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At this, Alex turns red again, and he crosses his arms. He’s pretty sure he’s recreating Luke’s angry face. Willie giggles at him. “Case in point.” He gets up from the makeshift bed on the floor and swaps places with Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This whole night has reminded him so much of just spending time with his pod, them sleeping at the grotto, sleeping in Julie’s room at the palace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex lies on the mess of blankets and pillows, surprisingly soft. Willie rolls to the side of the bed, hanging his hand over it. “Night, hot dog.” he says. Alex reaches up and takes Willie’s hand, and Willie’s eyes widen a little in surprise. Alex nods at Willie and lets go of his hand. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Good night</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex wakes up to the sun shining in his eyes, blocking out his vision. Willie’s sat at the chair in front of the window, facing Alex, his feet up on a smaller chair. He’s focusing on the notepad in his hand, his pencil moving over the paper in light motions. His eyes keep shifting between Alex and the paper.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Is he… drawing Alex? Alex sits up, and Willie snaps his head up from the notepad, flipping it shut. “Hey, you’re up!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex cocks his head and looks at the notepad, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what were you drawing?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p><span>He doesn’t write it down, but Willie somehow understands, because</span> <span>a faint tinge comes to his cheeks, and he looks down. “Nothing, just a doodle. Now come on, we have sightseeing to do!” He stands up and claps his hands together, grinning down at Alex. In the sunshine, he looks like he’s standing in the pearl and gold lined halls of his father’s palace. Alex sits up and yawns.</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes Willie’s outstretched hand and is pulled to his feet. Willie grins at him. “Let’s go!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After a moment to pull on shoes (the foot coverings, what a cool word), and then Willie, his hand still in Alex’s, drags Alex down the stairs. He stops just inside the doors and yells, “going out with Alex!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s amazing how comfortable he is in this palace. It’s like he just rides on a wave of euphoria everywhere. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Just outside the palace, there is a small house that Willie walks toward, uses the strange pendant on his necklace to open the door. Alex taps him on the shoulder, points at the pendant, his head cocked. Cocking his head has quickly become their signal for </span>
  <em>
    <span>I have a question</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie looks at the pendant. “Oh, this? It’s a key. It unlocks doors, you know, when you want to open them. This one is to this,” he gestures at the small house. “It’s my space. I don’t really have a word for it, but my, uh, my parents built it for me. Before they died.” his voice trails off at the end of his sentence, and he looks down. Alex fumbles out the notepad and pen Willie had given him to put in his fanny pack and scribbles, </span>
  <em>
    <span>grotto?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie reads the words and smiles at Alex. “Yeah. Like your grotto. It’s my safe place to go when I need space.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he’s letting Alex in? He trusts him that much?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Before Alex can question it, Willie grabs his hand, leading him inside, and it’s small and covered with drawings and paintings. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This </span>
  </em>
  <span>is what a bedroom is supposed to look like. There’s a couch shoved off to one corner, paint staining the floor, an easel and canvas in another corner. It reminds him of the cave where Flynn, another one of his friends from home, makes her art. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It really does remind him of his grotto, the same feeling, the same magic in the air that comes from his pod practicing their music. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He glances around at the paintings on the walls, and Willie is </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>good. Like, feature-in-a-musical-based-on-your-life-because-the-sea-is-boring good.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re only in here for a minute, I just have to grab something.” Willie draws Alex’s attention to where he’s squatting in front of a shelf, pulling out three thingamabobs that Alex has never seen before. He stands up, offering one of the thingamabobs to Alex, and Alex cocks his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, it’s a helmet. For skateboarding.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shrugs, and Willie smiles. He smiles so often. “You don’t have those where you’re from?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shakes his head, and Willie gasps dramatically. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Dude! </span>
  </em>
  <span>You have </span>
  <em>
    <span>no </span>
  </em>
  <span>idea what you’re missing out on! Okay, so a skateboard is basically a wooden board on wheels, and you can do, like, tricks and flips on it! The helmet,” he says, putting the helmet into Alex’s hands, “is to protect your head if you fall.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ink flows through his mind, and his eyes widen. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fall? </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie sees Alex’s expression, and he catches himself. “Hey, it’s okay, you won’t fall. You don’t even have to skate if you don’t want to, it’s just…” he trails off, his smile gone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex waves his hands, shaking his head. He points at Willie, at the board, and then at the helmet in Willie’s hands, and then back to Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, have </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>fallen? Well, sure! Here, look.” he sets his board and the helmet down, pulling out another helmet from the shelf, this one with a large crack on the side. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Got hit pretty bad by a carriage a few years ago. I’m okay now, just broke a few bones.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ink doesn’t recede, and Willie notices. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>notices.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Look, hot dog, falling is a part of learning to skate. You learn what your mistakes are and you learn how to fix them. Why do you think humans feel pain in the first place?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex stares at Willie, and a smile grows on his face as he nods. Willie grins back and picks up his non cracked helmet and skateboard. “Now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>this</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he says, indicating the board, “is a bit larger than a normal board. It’s large enough to fit two people, if they are so inclined.” he looks at Alex with a glint in his eye, and Alex turns red. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sharing a skateboard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>With Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He nods.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie grins, laughing. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes! </span>
  </em>
  <span>Okay, so I was thinking we could skate around town, maybe just see what’s happening, sound good to you?” Alex nods again, and Wille snaps on his helmet. Alex studies the helmet in his hands. There’s a gizmo like the one keeping his fanny pack closed, but he doesn’t know how to open it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at Willie for help, and the boy takes it from him. “Here, look.” he indicates the gizmo, pressing in on the sides. It clicks open, and Willie closes it again, offering it to Alex. He experimentally pushes on the sides where Willie did, and the gizmo clicks open! Alex looks at Willie, grinning. Willie smiles back, “now, you put it on your head.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex puts the helmet over his head, snapping the gizmo shut under his chin like he saw Willie do, and then nods at the other boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie leads Alex outside his grotto, locking the door behind them, then drops his board on the ground in front of them. “Okay,” he says. “I’ll lead, you just step on behind me, and hold on to my waist. If you want to get off, just, like, pinch me or something, yeah?” he puts a foot on to the board.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s face turns red again, and he can feel the strangely warped ink flowing through his brain in the form of something he hasn’t felt before.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Come on, hot dog, I don’t bite.” Willie looks back at Alex from his board, and Alex sees a blush of Willie’s own brushing his cheeks. He steps on to the board behind Willie, settling his hands on the other boy’s waist. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They go flying down the road ahead, and Alex laughs, silent but joyful.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so it turns out that you can't actually elongate a board for two people, but hey, this is a fictional universe and i say you can! also i wanted a cute lil sharing a skateboard thing so you get that this time around. i hope you liked this chapter, as it leads to le f l u f f :)</p><p>as always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!</p><p>if you want to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>here's the link to a discord server that YOU, yes, YOU can join for some socialisation, yanknow if you're into that kind of thing<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordd</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. Chapter Six</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The market is bustling and loud, bombarding Alex’s ears with pure sound, shouts of patrons and stall owners. It reminds him of the markets at home, selling shells and kelp and the occasional shark (Alex never buys the fish, but he knows merfolk that do).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The board stops in front of a stall that smells… good. Alex can’t say exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>it smells like, but it smells good. He gets off the board first, and then Willie disembarks, pushing down with his foot on one end of the board, seesawing it up to his hand. He gestures, smiling like the shark that caught the fish, at the stall. “Hot dogs.” is all he says, and Alex grins, feigning a silent groan and pitching his face into his hands. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie giggles. He raps on the wood of the stall counter, “hey, Nick, you in?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A blonde boy pops his head up from behind the stall counter. “Heya, Willie! What can I get you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie orders for them, two hot dogs with mustard and ketchup (whatever those are), and Nick nods. “Be ready in two.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie turns to Alex. “Hot dogs.” he says again, smiling. Alex takes out his notepad. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You are a menace,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he writes. He doesn’t know where that comes from, but the ink that was there not fifteen minutes before has been shoved into its cage by the need to make Willie laugh again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he does, and Alex grins back. “Ah, but you haven’t experienced hot dogs before. They are a literal godsend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here ya go, one hot dog for Prince William,” Nick puts a fancy accent on </span>
  <em>
    <span>Prince William</span>
  </em>
  <span>, “and one for his date.” He winks at the two of them, handing them their hot dogs. Willie giggles again, but Alex can see that his face is almost as red as he imagines his own to be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes his hot dog, and Willie leads him to a clearing behind the mess of stalls and tables, a space of green. Alex has never seen this much green before. At home, it’s all blues and purples, dark colours. Here, everything is kissed by the sun.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sit down on the ground and bite into their hot dogs. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oh, Poseidon, this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It explodes in his mouth, tangy and sweet and </span>
  <em>
    <span>delicious</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He looks at Willie, who is watching him with a small smile on his face. “Good, huh?” Alex nods his head, a smile on his face. He eats the rest of the hot dog in three bites.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wow, you really liked that.” Willie says, a smile in his voice. He finishes his hot dog quickly, and leans back on his hands. “You know, once, I get really sick after eating one of these.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen, and he looks at his hands, expecting them to turn green, or something. He doesn’t know how the human world works!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie laughs. “Nah, you aren’t going to get sick from eating </span>
  <em>
    <span>Nick’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>dogs. He takes good care of his food. This was a few years ago, I was hungry as all get out, and I just kind of… picked up a hot dog I saw on the street.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex cringes, holding his hands up in front of his chest like </span>
  <em>
    <span>ewwwww</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know, I know! Lesson learned: </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>eat street dogs. I was sick for </span>
  <em>
    <span>days.</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex laughs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sit in silence for a few more minutes, and Willie says, “wanna keep exploring?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex wants to do everything, if it means staying with this beautifully happy boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Alex nods, making to get up. “Hey, wait.” Willie pulls a cloth out of his pocket, wipes Alex’s face with it. He can feel his face grow red, and he avoids Willie’s eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You had ketchup on your face.” is all Willie says. He smiles at Alex, puts the cloth back in his pocket, “I’ll give it to one of the maids later.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They get back on the board, skating farther into the market. They just coast for a while, taking in the sights and sounds, letting the wind comb through them. Alex closes his eyes, listening to the market bustling around him. He finds calm, and then he hears a sound that spikes his adrenaline and makes him leap off the board.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a </span>
  <em>
    <span>crash</span>
  </em>
  <span> as he lands on the ground, rolling away, and Willie snaps his head around. He stops the board, only a few feet away from where Alex landed, and he looks at Alex with ink in his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay? Did you fall?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shakes his head frantically, straining his ears to listen for the sound he’d recognised. There it is again! </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He scrambles to his feet, grabbing Willie’s shoulder and shaking him a little. “Woah, woah, calm down, ‘Lex. What’s up?” Alex’s brain is too honed in on the sound to process the nickname he’s just been given, and he points toward where he heard the sound, and then gestures to his ears, then to himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You… heard something? Good or bad?” He gives Willie a thumbs up, </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but Willie’s brow is still furrowed in confusion. “So… why did you jump off the board?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex huffs silently, pulling the notepad and pen out of the fanny pack. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I heard something, made me happy. I want to find it</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie reads the text and says, “oh, okay! Let’s go find it, then!” he stands up, pulling Alex with him. “Maybe we should walk, huh?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods, letting go of Willie’s hand so Willie can pick up his board. “Hey, ‘Lex.” Willie says. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Now </span>
  </em>
  <span>Alex processes the nickname, and he turns red. He looks at Willie. “The next time you want to get off the board, let me know, okay? Don’t want to hurt that pretty face of yours.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes Alex’s hand and all but drags him to the main road, because Alex is still processing </span>
  <em>
    <span>pretty face?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, ‘Lex, what are we looking for?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Noisemakers</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is what Alex writes on the notepad. Willie bites his lip in confusion. “I don’t think that’s an official thing. I’ve never heard of them, at least, except in the general term of ‘this thing makes noise’.” Alex thinks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Follow my sound? </span>
  </em>
  <span>he writes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie nods. “Hey, that’s a good idea! Where did you hear it?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex strains his ears again, searching for the tell-tale sound of his noisemakers. </span>
  <em>
    <span>There! </span>
  </em>
  <span>He grabs Willie’s hand and runs toward the sound, stops, turns, and runs again. He does this for about two minutes, and he can hear Willie laughing and laughing behind him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stops in front of a short stage, where he can see music-players with their music makers, and in the center, he sees it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Noisemakers.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tugs on Willie’s sleeve, pointing at the noisemakers. “That’s what you’re looking for?” A frantic nod. “You wanna try playing?” Another nod. “Okay, I’ll see what I can do, hold on.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As Alex looks on, Willie walks over to the music-players and has a word with them. At first, they look annoyed, and then, when they realise who they’re talking to, their eyes grow wide and they bow to Willie, who looks like he wishes he could disappear. It’s strange, how he treats being a prince, like he hates it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He waves Alex over to the noisemakers, and Alex bounds over, happy as a clam. “Okay, take your pick. Which instrument?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Instrument? This must be the word for music-makers here on land. He heads straight for the noisemakers, picking up the flumfers from where they lie, discarded, on the wooden floor of the stage. They feel </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>right in his hands, like they quiver with life. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He bangs a noisemaker, and then, when it makes the sound he wants it to, he just… plays. He lets himself forget the world around him, pretends he’s back in his grotto, just playing to get the ink out of his head, he loses track of time. He plays the sounds for </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally Free</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and for other songs he and his pod have been working on. He closes his eyes and imagines Reggie is playing his kinnish, Luke his kefinizer, Julie singing and playing her shimineh. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he opens his eyes some time later, they find Willie first, looking at Alex with his hands over his mouth, his eyes wide. Alex stops playing, setting the flumfers down, and walks over to where Willie stands, pulling out the notepad.</span>
</p><p>
  
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Okay? </span>
  </em>
  <span>he writes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie nods, drawing his hands away from his mouth. He’s grinning. Like, really, really grinning. “Oh my god, ‘Lex, that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing</span>
  </em>
  <span>, holy…” he trails off, staring at Alex with shining eyes. “Do you play drums where you’re from?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Drums</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Must be the word for the noisemakers here. Humans have such strange words!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Alex nods. “Well, you’re </span>
  <em>
    <span>really, really </span>
  </em>
  <span>good! Why didn’t you tell me you could play?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shrugs, scrawling on the notepad. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Didn’t think it was important.</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That’s not really true, but Alex doesn’t want to tell Willie why he was so hesitant to tell the other boy about his noisemaking. He doesn’t want to ruin the mood of the day by saying his father killed his noisemakers at home.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Not </span>
  <em>
    <span>important</span>
  </em>
  <span>? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Dude</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you were…” he trails off. “Well, you know, don’t you?” Alex blushes because Willie is still staring at him with the biggest grin, eyes bright. He takes Alex’s hand. “I want to take you somewhere.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He picks up his board, leading Alex down the road and toward a quiet spot. Willie’s hand is warm in Alex’s.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>At first, Willie still chatters about Alex’s noisemaking (“no, dude, that was </span>
  <em>
    <span>awesome</span>
  </em>
  <span>, like, it was so good, I’m running out of adjectives”), and then, as they get farther and farther away from the market and the people, Willie becomes quieter and quieter.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex studies his face. He still carries a soft smile, but it doesn’t reach his eyes. He looks… wistful, like when Julie first played a song with the rest of the pod after her mom died.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie takes Alex to a small boat, floating on a mass of water too small to be the sea, overlooked by great drooping trees. (That’s the word for the things that grow out of the ground like seaweed, isn’t it neat?)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie drops his board near a tree, snapping off his helmet. He straightens, shaking his hair out and Alex is. Well, Alex is breath taken. This isn’t the first time he’s seen Willie, he dearly hopes it won’t be the last, but here, in this dimly lit place that looks so much like the sea, Willie looks like a merboy. And Alex wants to tell him the truth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He snaps off his helmet too, setting it where Willie’d put his, and turns to look at the other boy, who is staring at Alex with eyes that are conveying a soft smile even though his mouth is set. Alex cocks his head, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what? </span>
  </em>
  <span>And Willie shakes his. “Nothing,” he says. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He helps Alex into the boat, and they row to the middle of the small sea. The world around them is filled with the sounds of nature, and yet all Alex can hear is silence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It isn’t awkward, Alex’s ears aren’t filled with the crushing feeling of the ink. It’s almost as if the ink has disappeared entirely. If he searches for it, it’s still there, a small amount, in the corner of its cage, but it isn’t taking over his mind. It’s a feeling he hasn’t experienced since he was a young merboy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, I…” starts Willie, who is biting his lip and playing with his hair, hanging in front of his face, looking at his feet. He looks as though the ink that usually inhabits Alex’s mind has moved to his. Alex tentatively reaches out a hand to push Willie’s hair back from his face. Willie turns his head up into Alex’s touch, and then realises what he’s doing. He looks surprised for a moment, and Alex yanks his hand back, he’s overstepped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But then Willie catches Alex’s hand. He holds it in his lap (they aren’t that far apart in the little boat), tracing the fingers of his other hand over Alex’s. Alex loses focus on the world around him, just thinking of the other boy, holding his hand, being kind and gentle, like he’s been since Alex met him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My parents met when my dad was fourteen and my mom was twelve.” he starts. Alex’s eyes widen. Willie still doesn’t meet them, and Alex doesn’t move, doesn’t say (well. you know.) anything, just lets Willie continue his ministrations on Alex’s hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>If Willie wants to share, Alex won’t stop him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> “My mom was the princess of our kingdom, and dad was just the son of a servant in the palace. He caught her eye, they became friends, they fell in love and married by the time dad was seventeen. It was like that whole trope of ‘love at first sight’. Dad always said that he knew he was destined to marry Mom from the moment he laid eyes on her. When mom’s parents died, they became king and queen, and they had me. That was eighteen years ago. They were kind and loving parents, they loved each other, and they loved me. They… they died in a storm. At sea. That was two years ago.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex can feel tears spring to his eyes, because Willie’s looking so unlike the boy he’s come to know over the past day and a half, his eyes are downcast, the smile that usually resides on his face gone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Everyone expected me to be fine with it, to just move on, find a girl to wed, wed her, bed her, make her my queen. But it’s not that simple. Ever since the news of the crash, I’ve…” he trails off, looking at Alex in the eyes for the first time since he started talking. Alex tries to pour as much kindness and friendship as he can into his eyes, and Willie seems to get the gist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“I’ve been sailing as much as possible, I’ve been looking out to sea, looking for evidence of… something. Merfolk, like in the stories? Maybe, if I ever met one, they could tell me about my parents? Maybe… maybe they were saved by the mer. My mom and dad, living peacefully on an island together, trying their hardest to get home to me?” there’s a pause, and then Willie licks his lips. “It just… hurts </span><em><span>so</span></em> <span>much sometimes. Sometimes… sometimes it hurts so much I can’t breathe. I wanted to leave home and never come back, I hated the responsibility of being a prince.”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And a tear slips down Alex’s cheek, because Willie isn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>supposed </span>
  </em>
  <span>to hurt like this. He wants to wrap Willie in his arms, pet his hair, just offer comfort, </span>
  <em>
    <span>something</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but he doesn’t want to overstep. Hand holding doesn’t always mean what you think it does. He holds hands with Luke, and with Julie, and with Reggie, all the time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And then you wash ashore." Willie says. "A boy who can't speak, and yet whom I can understand perfectly. I've spent the whole day laughing and smiling more than I have in two years. I wanted to be a great prince, just to impress you. I wanted to lay my kingdom at your feet, watch you delight in the beautiful things I offer you, for you to love it as much as I do, because under it all, I really do love it."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex smiles. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You are a great prince</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He wants to say. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I see it in the way you interact with your people, I can see how much you love your kingdom, and I love it too.</span>
  </em>
  <span> But he can't, so he stays quiet.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>"And then you took my breath away, playing the drums today. I - Alex, you seemed so </span>
  <em>
    <span>peaceful</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You let yourself go for fifteen minutes, and it was the most beautiful thing I've seen in a long time."</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And suddenly, </span>
  <em>
    <span>Alex </span>
  </em>
  <span>doesn't know how to breathe. He's blushing furiously, and Willie smiles softly at him, and it's his turn to reach a hand toward Alex's face, trace his cheekbone. He cups Alex's jaw in his hand, and Willie is the one to lean in.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their lips meet, and the ink explodes into jellyfish, beautiful and glowing bright. Their lips meet, and Alex can feel his face turning redder than it's ever been, redder than Bobby’s shell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their lips meet, and Alex is. So happy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Willie pulls away, he doesn’t go far, resting his forehead on Alex’s. “Good?” he asks. Alex nods, not even trying to speak.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sit there, holding hands, reveling in the quiet bubble they’ve formed.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>what's this? a double update? <br/>yes.<br/>i thought the last chapter was a little short, so here's the next one a day in advance! (ya welcs mates)</p><p>hope you liked the fluff, tell your friends :)</p><p>fair winds, my lovelies<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Chapter Seven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s peaceful until Alex’s wrist begins to burn, white-hot, and he jerks away from Willie, his mouth open in a scream.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex?” askes Willie in an ink-filled voice. “Alex, what’s happening, what’s going on?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t know, he’s clutching his wrist tightly, and he hears a loud shouting in the back of his mind. He writhes around, shaking the boat. It suddenly </span>
  <em>
    <span>flips</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Willie and Alex end up in the water. For someone whose home is literally under the sea, Alex is startled and inky at the sudden cold, and out of habit attempts to breathe. His (human) lungs fill with water and he is surprised when Willie’s arms come under his, dragging him toward land.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He laughs to himself, his wrist still burning. This is a funny parallel. Not two days ago, he’d been doing this exact same thing, in Willie’s place. He wonders if Willie will sing to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He coughs up water when they reach the sand, and he realises that he can’t hear Willie at all. He looks up frantically, but Willie’s right there, staring at him in bewilderment. Alex cocks his head.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You screamed. And just now, you were coughing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why could I hear you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen and he licks his lips. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Willie can hear him?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Three days for him to kiss you, little darling, or your soul, and your voice, is mine forever.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex looks at his wrist, the pain retreating, and he can see a purple mark shimmer and dissipate into the air around him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-” Alex starts, and then stops, because Willie scrambles back. “You can talk. Okay. You can talk. Why can you talk? I -  I thought you couldn’t talk. Gotta say, I’m freaking out a little, ‘Lex. Were… were you lying to me?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex sits up and tries speaking again. He can see the ink growing behind Willie’s eyes, and Alex wants to do all he can to stop it. “Willie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie stiffens, but he stops rambling. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex thinks. There’s only one way to start this. “I’m not human. I’m… I’m mer.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie looks fearful. “A merboy. You.” Alex nods. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Where’s your tail?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I… I swapped it for legs. To see the human world. To find out more.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“There’s a sea witch, he’s called Covington, he gave me legs in exchange for my voice. His one caveat was that you had to kiss me before three days was up, or I’d lose my legs, forever, and I’d be a tortured soul, living in his club, forever.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex watches Willie’s face change from inky to a face that he’s only seen once before, on Luke when he’d seen Julie kissing a merboy, before they started dating. It’s heartbreak.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie pulls his hand away from where Alex is reaching for it, brings it up around his knees. “So… what I’m hearing is… all today. All that was for me to kiss you? Hot dogs, and you playing the drums, that was all a lie? Did you make it so I’d run into you on the beach, too? You were just… using me? To stay human?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen. Whatever barriers that were keeping the ink away have dropped, and it’s filling his brain, addling his thoughts. He reaches out for Willie. “No, Willie, no, it wasn’t a lie, I swear-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Willie seems to have tuned Alex out completely, as he’s rambling now. “And to think… I told you all that on the boat. Oh my god, I’ve never told anyone that before. I can’t… I can’t do this, I have to get out, oh god, we never should have met.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And it’s that last line that hits Alex like a harpoon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie, please, that’s not-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Willie’s stood up already, off and running away, away from Alex, toward his palace, toward his little grotto where he can let everything out and it’s astounding that after spending only a day with him, Alex already knows </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>much about the boy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sits there for a few minutes, shocked. The past few minutes have moved so fast. He should go after Willie, right? Try to explain?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gets up, dusting his hands off. They’re shaking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks around.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie’s forgotten his board.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span> Alex walks toward it, picks up the two helmets that lie next to it, and that’s when it hits him. Willie won’t want to see him, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>lied </span>
  </em>
  <span>about the most important thing, and he just destroyed something already so precious to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everything is crashing down around him, and the ink is running through his head like a ripcurrent. He slides to the ground in front of the tree.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, little darling.” Alex snaps his head up. Dante and Fuego are swimming in the small sea, only a few feet away from where he’s sitting, and it’s like the grotto all over again: Alex, helpless and naive, Dante and Fuego, here to offer him some impossible feat.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What do you want?” asks Alex, pouring all the ink into his voice, turning it cold. Dante and Fuego wriggle, annoyed at how Alex sounds.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, little troublemaker, we wanted </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>to get that boy of yours for us, but unfortunately, our master underestimated him, and you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex furrows his brow in confusion. “Caleb wanted… Willie? For what purpose?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dante and Fuego cackle. “Think about it, little troublemaker. That boy of yours is the rightful heir to all this land, and by extension, the sea it sits upon. If Covington were to have his soul, he would have that power in the palm of his hand. But unfortunately, you got in the way. We weren’t counting on him to kiss you so quickly.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex quivers. Willie. They want Willie. His contract is filled, he knows that, but Covington has no contract with Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re going after Willie.” Dante and Fuego gasp. “Smart little mer-fellow, aren’t you? Well, according to the master, and he is never wrong, he’s in that silly little shed of his right now. Oh dear, little darling, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>crying</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s heart fills with ink. Willie’s crying. He made Willie cry. Covington knows where he is. He’s defenseless because he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>crying</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shoots to his feet, holding the two helmets and the skateboard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, little darling, where are you running off to? Are you going to warn your little lover? Why would he listen to </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a liar?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Dante and Fuego are voicing the thoughts the ink is causing in his mind, and he almost drops his determination.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Willie’s alone and he’s crying</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That thought alone is enough to set him off, carrying the board and the helmets, tracing the same path Willie did, away from the small sea, away from Dante and Fuego and their tricks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex runs up the hill, toward the market.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex keeps running.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He runs until he can see the golden light of the palace, and Willie’s grotto on the grounds. He races right up to it, raising his fist to bang on the doors, but then he stops himself, breathing hard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ink, momentarily forgotten in his race to get to the palace, settles in, draping itself in his brain. What if Willie won’t listen to him? What if he just shoves him out the door, just like his parents did?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can’t hear anything from inside the grotto, so he just goes for it. He bangs on the door, and it swings open. That’s strange. He pokes his head inside, and it looks like someone’s been in here recently. He looks at the door, and it’s been forced open.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His heart picks up, a little more ink sinking into his brain.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s okay, maybe Willie went up to his room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>(And someone forced his grotto open?)</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex runs to the doors of the palace, opens the doors as quietly as he can, and takes the stairs to Willie’s room three at a time. He shoves open the door, and the room is undisturbed from this morning.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The blankets Alex slept in are still tousled on the floor, the bed is still unmade, and the notepad that Willie’d been using when Alex woke up is still on the table in front of the window.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex walks over to it, flipping it open to where Willie’s pencil sits, bookmarking the page. It’s invasive, but he’s curious, and his brain isn’t working right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a drawing of Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a sketch, but it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>good</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s just Alex sleeping, his face turned toward Willie, but Willie has somehow managed to capture Alex’s features in a way that takes Alex’s breath away. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks around the room, and it’s then that he notices the four candles, burnt down to their ends, sitting on the table, and his heart swells a little bit more. Willie had been drawing him all night.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And he’s not here. Not in his grotto, not in his room, and now Alex has to assume the worst, that Caleb has him and that he’s being hurt, his soul being forcibly taken away from him, manipulated by Covington.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he should have just listened to Ray. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Covington, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he could have listened to his birth parents and he wouldn’t be in this situation!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex throws himself upon the bed, his face in his hands, pulling and tugging at his hair. He groans, and it makes a sound, because that’s something he can </span>
  <em>
    <span>do </span>
  </em>
  <span>now, and his plan this whole day if Willie kissed him was to just… he doesn’t know, </span>
  <em>
    <span>sing </span>
  </em>
  <span>to Willie? Talk to him like a normal being?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s all so weird. He’s human, and he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was </span>
  </em>
  <span>a merboy, and that was a big freaking change, and normally, that’d be something that the ink latches on to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>minute </span>
  </em>
  <span>it happens, but he’d been distracted by </span>
  <em>
    <span>Willie</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Willie </span>
  </em>
  <span>and just. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Willie. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie, trapped, somewhere with Caleb and the eels. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon, </span>
  </em>
  <span>this hurts.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He shoots to his feet. He has to steady himself.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Willie, under the sea.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Willie, being hurt.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Willie’s face when he realised Alex lied.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that’s it. Alex races out the door and down the stairs. Maybe Willie’s on the beach.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a long shot, but Alex needs to get out of his own head.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>so anyone who has been here since my first willex fic knows that i love me some willie angst</p><p>so here we are</p><p>dont worry, we'll get a happy ending for the boys, they deserve it :)</p><p>oh gods that sounded creepy I PROMISE I WILL GIVE THEM A HAPPY ENDING PLEASE DON'T ATTACK ME</p><p>as always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated, they make my little angst writing heart siiiing</p><p>fair winds, my lovelies :)<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps if you want to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps here's a link to a discord server that you can join if you wanna!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordion</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0008"><h2>8. Chapter Eight</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The beach is empty. He can hear the waves washing up on shore, the seagulls squawking in the sky above, and it would be almost peaceful, it would be something that Alex would be the happiest he’s ever been about, here, on the beach, </span>
  <em>
    <span>standing.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Willie isn’t here.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And that’s the whole point he’s even on the beach.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex screams.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He screams because he can do that now, he screams because Willie isn’t here, and to be perfectly honest, he screams because he misses home more than anything and he wishes that he could have a tail again, swim into a hug with his pod.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The seagulls squawk above, and Alex screams.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He walks the coastline, he screams his throat raw.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s been hours, maybe, he’s lost track of time, when he notices an odd shape on the edge of the water, the sea lapping at its sides.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It has long brown hair, and it might be Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex takes that chance. He runs down the beach toward the shape, it becoming clearer and clearer as he comes nearer and nearer and it’s definitely Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy looks up at him. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>looks up at him</span>
  </em>
  <span>, because he’s safe, and he’s okay, and he’s glaring at Alex and there are fresh tear stains on his cheeks and upon closer examination, he’s soaking wet all over.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he speaks, his voice is hoarse, like he’s the one who’s spent the night screaming, not the other way around. “What do you want?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex falls to his knees beside Willie. “I… are you okay? What happened to you? Why are you… all wet?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie pulls his knees tighter to his chest. “I don’t know. Physically, I think I’m fine, but I can’t remember the past three hour… wait. Why the hell am I telling you all this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex stares at Willie. He can’t remember the past three hours.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks him right in the eye, and Willie glares back, and there is something </span>
  <em>
    <span>missing</span>
  </em>
  <span> from his eyes, like he’s lost the will to thrive but can’t be bothered to stop.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex recognises it. The whole can’t-remember-the-last-three-hours thing is new, but he recognises it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He reaches out to take Willie’s hand, but the other boy jerks away from him. "Stop talk-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie, please just listen to me.” he lets some of the ink seep into his voice, and he knows that Willie hears it, because he turns his eyes on Alex, and there’s ink in them, and Alex has hope. He reaches for Willie’s hand again, and this time, the other boy doesn’t pull away. He turns his arm over, studying his wrist.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mark, in purple with a small octopus symbol in the center.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie, you are in </span>
  <em>
    <span>serious </span>
  </em>
  <span>trouble.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sits down on the sand next to Willie, and he starts talking. He doesn’t tell Willie the whole story, only the parts he </span>
  <em>
    <span>needs </span>
  </em>
  <span>to know: about Covington, about his soul, about how Alex gave Caleb his voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can feel tears springing to his eyes as he talks, because Willie’s face is changing as he understands, and there’s ink growing behind his eyes, and he feels so awful and so, so, sorry.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he’s done, Willie’s still glaring at him. “Why should I listen to a </span>
  <em>
    <span>word </span>
  </em>
  <span>you say?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That hurts. A lot. It hits Alex harder than he thought it would, and his eyes burn, and he loses control of his speech.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Because I care about you, Willie.” is what he blurts out. Willie’s glare disappears and is replaced with shock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And I hate that I brought you into this mess.” Alex continues, his speech still out of his control. He moves a little bit closer to Willie, and the other boy doesn’t move away. “I just… there might be a way to fix it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m listening.” says Willie, reluctantly. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My dad - well, my adopted dad, he’s the king of our kingdom, and technically the king of the whole sea, so if we get his help, he can attack Caleb and get your soul back, get the souls of everyone back.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Why haven’t you tried that before?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex falters. “I… I don’t know. For the most part, the kingdom pretends he doesn’t exist. I guess we all thought that if we pretended he didn’t exist, he would cease and desist.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie scoffs. “Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>that’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>a bad plan.” Alex smiles a little, nodding. “Yeah, it is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so this Caleb guy has my soul, and there’s no way </span>
  <em>
    <span>we </span>
  </em>
  <span>can get it back unless we kill him, and the only thing that kills him is the power from your dad’s trident, and your dad lives under the sea.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods. “You’re taking this surprisingly well.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie chuckles, a wet laugh. “Yeah, well, I’ve had a lot of surprises today, haven’t I?” And even though Alex can tell he meant it as a joke, he can’t help but feel guilty.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But back to the point,” says Willie. “How are we going to communicate with your dad if neither of us can swim down there? The human body can’t handle the pressure more than four hundred feet under the sea, and I’m guessing your kingdom is on the seafloor.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex grins. “Yes, well, I didn’t show up on land </span>
  <em>
    <span>completely </span>
  </em>
  <span>unprepared.” At Willie’s confused expression, he gets up, dusting his legs off. “Watch and learn, skater boy.” he turns his head away before Willie can react, walking to the edge of the sea and standing in the surf.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, what are you doing?” he hears Willie call, and he waves a hand back. He drops his hands and opens his mouth. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I got a spark in me, hands up if you believe, and you’re a part of me, hands up if you’re with me, now till eternity, hands up if you’re with me, been so long and now-</span>
  </em>
  <span>” he’s cut off by a familiar voice finishing the verse. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m finally free!</span>
  </em>
  <span>” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The song is the first one the band wrote all together, and so it holds a special place in their hearts. Anytime one of them sings it, anywhere or anytime, they know, somehow. Call it magic. They’re merfolk.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He watches the surf and there are the familiar splashes of a merfolk tail coming closer. He grins and looks back at Willie, who is staring at him in shock.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex furrows his brow, walking back over to when Willie is sat. “You okay?” he asks, offering his hand. Willie looks up at him, taking his hand and standing up. “Yeah, I… I’m fine. I just… I thought I recognised that song.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is about to say that </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes, you definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>do </span>
  <em>
    <span>know that song, </span>
  </em>
  <span>I </span>
  <em>
    <span>sang it to you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but is stopped by his pod mates’ voices, swimming closer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex! Dude! You can talk! You ki-” Luke starts, and then is cut off. Alex turns back to the surf in time to see Julie yank Luke under the water, and he laughs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie is still holding his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reggie, Julie, and Luke swim right up to the shore, keeping their tails in the water, the rest of their bodies on land. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie hones in immediately on Alex and Willie’s clasped hands, and shoots Alex a smirk. “Hey, Lexie. What’s up?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie snickers, and Alex turns to him. “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“She called you Lexie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex sputters and the other four laugh. “Okay, I didn’t call you guys here to </span>
  <em>
    <span>laugh </span>
  </em>
  <span>at me,” he cuts his eyes at Julie. “It’s because we have a problem.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The three faces of his pod mates fall, and then Luke says, “besides, we get enough amusement laughing at Reggie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reggie pokes Luke in the side, and it almost turns into a full blown rolling around on the sand fight until Julie shouts, “GUYS! PROBLEM, REMEMBER?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie flinches, Alex can feel it shivering through his arm, and he squeezes his hand. The other boy squeezes back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the guys quiet down, they look at Alex and Willie. Alex tugs on Willie’s hand, pulling him down to sit on the sand. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Maybe we should start with introductions?” prompts Julie. Alex nods. “Right. So, Willie, these are my pod mates, Luke, Reggie, and Julie.” he gestures to each of them as he names them. Reggie clicks his tongue and shoots Willie finger pointers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie smiles softly at Alex’s pod. “Hey. Alex told me about you guys.” Luke smirks, clearly about to open his mouth, but Alex clears his throat. “So, the problem…”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s cut off by Willie suddenly gasping, his hand slipping out of Alex’s. Alex turns to Willie, ink growing in his mind. Willie’s staring off into space, his mouth open, his hand gripping his shirt. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie?” the other boy shakes his head, and he looks at Alex with a mixture of ink and pain in his eyes, and Alex is scared.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He tugs Willie’s hand away from his shirt, turns it to see his wrist. The stamp is glowing a bright purple. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, what’s wrong with him?” asks Julie. Alex turns his head to his pod. “I think Caleb has his soul, and he’s sending out those pains the others get.” Willie nods. “Yeah, I… I don’t remember a lot after Alex… uh, after I went back to the palace, but one minute I was in my grotto, the next minute I was sitting on the beach. The sun was lower in the sky then when I’d been in my grotto, about three hours lower. Alex found me a few minutes later.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke frowns. “Your grotto?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie offers a smile. “Yeah, that’s what Alex called it. Like the one he told me you guys play music in.” Luke looks at Alex, incredulous. “You </span>
  <em>
    <span>told </span>
  </em>
  <span>him about the grotto? After a </span>
  <em>
    <span>day</span>
  </em>
  <span>? It took Julie </span>
  <em>
    <span>weeks </span>
  </em>
  <span>for you to let her in.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex opens his mouth, but falters. He isn’t quite sure how to explain. “Guess I’m special, huh?” says Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke furrows his brow and grumbles, “yeah, I guess.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Going back to the </span>
  <em>
    <span>point</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” says Alex (Covington, his pod gets distracted easily), “we have to get Willie’s soul back.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>All three merfolk are stunned. “Alex, that’s… that’s impossible.” says Reggie, after a moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is about to retort, something like </span>
  <em>
    <span>I don’t care if it’s impossible, I care about Willie, </span>
  </em>
  <span>or something equally embarrassing, but Willie’s voice stops him. “Well, that’s nonsense. You’re only saying that because no one’s ever tried.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone stares at Willie, and he holds up under their gazes, sitting up straight, his prince shining through.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke is the first to break the silence. “You’re taking this surprisingly well.” he says, unknowingly echoing Alex’s words from just minutes before. Willie sees it too, and giggles. “Alex pointed that out, too. I’ve had a lot of surprises today. I don’t think it can get any more surprising than this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hold on, why would Caleb want Willie’s soul in the first place?” Reggie cuts in. “No offense, bro, but you’re kinda unimportant.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He’s a prince, Reg!” squawks Alex. “I think he’s pretty important!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So, maybe it’s a power play? But if he’s just the prince, why not take his mom or dad?” asks Luke. Alex whips his eyes to Willie, whose head has dropped.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“My parents were killed a few years ago, so technically I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am </span>
  </em>
  <span>the ruler of the kingdom. It makes sense that he’d want my soul.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Everyone falls silent, and then Julie reaches out a hand to Willie’s free one, resting on the sand in front of him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m sorry. I know what it’s like to lose your mom.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie glances at her, nods.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But anyway,” says Luke. “You want us to… what? Go talk to Ray, </span>
  <em>
    <span>hi, father of the love of my life, your son swapped his tail for legs and now Caleb Covington has his boyfriend’s soul, please go save it?</span>
  </em>
  <span> It’ll never work.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex decides not to focus on the </span>
  <em>
    <span>boyfriend </span>
  </em>
  <span>part. “Well, we’d need a better plan than that, and I figured it could start with Dad giving me back my tail. I can go talk to Covington on my own.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The others erupt into speech, disagreeing with Alex. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie, her brow furrowed, glaring at Alex, “Lexie, no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he already has Willie’s soul, and he’d do anything to get his hands on yours,”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke, also glaring at Alex. “Are you </span>
  <em>
    <span>kidding</span>
  </em>
  <span>, bro? You </span>
  <em>
    <span>just </span>
  </em>
  <span>got your legs, you can’t just give them up for a guy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reggie, looking at Alex with confusion. “But… you’ve been wanting legs for as long as I can remember. Why give them up now?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Willie, his grip tightening on Alex’s hand, “you aren’t getting away from me that easy, hot dog.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys!” shouts Alex. “I get it, it’s not ideal, but it’s the </span>
  <em>
    <span>only </span>
  </em>
  <span>way. Believe me. Think about it. If you send </span>
  <em>
    <span>me </span>
  </em>
  <span>in, I can get Covington monologuing. I can stall. He’ll want to know why I have my tail back, and he’ll want to force me to see Willie in pain, really all of you in pain. If I can get him focused on me for long enough for Dad to target the club where he lives, he can hit it with his trident and maybe kill Caleb.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The others are silent. “This is a really </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid </span>
  </em>
  <span>idea.” is the first thing Luke mutters. “Yeah, I agree. Alex, you’re going to get yourself killed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie’s hand finds Alex’s again and squeezes it tightly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It’s the only plan we’ve got.” is what Alex says, and he can see from their faces that he’s defeated his friends.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>is this an extension of the angst?<br/>yes.<br/>but we got parallels and kinda fluff, that counts, right?</p><p>please don't come after me with the pitchforks</p><p>okay, fair winds, my lovely readers!<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps if you want to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps here's a link to a discord server that you can join if you wanna!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordions</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0009"><h2>9. Chapter Nine</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p> </p><p>
  <span>“They’ll be back soon, don’t worry.” is the first thing Alex says after his pod disappears into the sea to go and get King Ray. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’re still sitting on the sand, hand in hand, watching the waves go by.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie shifts closer, resting his head on Alex’s shoulder. “That’s not what I’m worried about.” It’s strange to Alex that only hours before, Willie’d been acting as though he never wanted to see him again, and now it’s like he never wants him to leave.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He voices that thought, and Willie chuckles. “Yeah, well, it’s easy for me to forgive others if they had good reason to upset me. And you, hot dog,” he says, running his thumb over Alex’s hand, “had an excellent reason. And I care about you, too.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s face goes red and he turns his head to Willie, who’s looking up at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a moment where Alex’s eyes flicker to Willie’s lips, and Willie glances at his, and this time, he can’t tell who makes the first move.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s a kiss that says </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m sorry </span>
  </em>
  <span>from Alex, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I never ever meant for you to get wrapped up in all this</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>it’s all right, I forgive you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, from Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But Alex has never been one to forgive himself as easily as Willie does others. He pulls away, his eyes burning suddenly. He opens his mouth to speak, and then a soft purple light hits Willie’s chest and the other boy breathes out hard, gripping Alex’s hand so hard it goes white.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m so sorry.” Alex knows he sounds like a broken record, but he can’t think of anything else to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop apologising.” Willie says it with the amusement gone from his voice, staring at Alex. “It isn’t your fault, ‘Lex.” (there’s that damn nickname again, making Alex’s brain momentarily short-circuit). “Honestly, I don’t blame you. Was I mad at you when I found out you lied to me? Sure. Was I still worried about you? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And am I confused that I’ve known you for two days and already, I would do anything for you? Uh, yeah.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex can feel his cheeks grow warm. “You don’t mean that.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A poke on his cheek. “Yeah, I do.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They sit for a few moments, because Alex can’t think of anything to say, and Willie doesn’t seem to mind it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ALEXANDER MOLINA!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s grip tightens on Willie’s hand and he sucks in a breath as the sea explodes and a merman with a green tail, a golden crown, a trident in his hand, and ink clouding his features breaks the surface.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Dad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He stands up, letting go of Willie’s hand (he really didn’t want to do that).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king’s inked face is looking at Alex, and Alex hadn’t expected him to break into a smile when he laid eyes on him, but that’s what happens.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Poseidon, Alex, I’ve been so </span>
  <em>
    <span>worried</span>
  </em>
  <span> about you. Going to Covington, what were you </span>
  <em>
    <span>thinking</span>
  </em>
  <span>-” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Dad, he knows.” says Julie, surfacing next to their father. “We already yelled at him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, Ray. Don’t worry, we gave him a </span>
  <em>
    <span>stern </span>
  </em>
  <span>talking to.” says Reggie, popping up with Luke. “No, we didn’t.” mutters Luke.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, good, because I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>not looking forward to that conversation. Now,” Ray says, clapping his hands. “To the point. I understand you have a harebrained plan to attack Covington’s club to save the soul of a boy - a </span>
  <em>
    <span>human </span>
  </em>
  <span>boy that you met yesterday.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex falters because from the mouth of the merman who’s given him a home for nearly two years, his plan </span>
  <em>
    <span>does </span>
  </em>
  <span>sound insane.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Sir, if I may,” comes Willie’s voice, stepping in front of Alex and making eye contact with his father, “destroying this witch’s club would benefit everyone under the sea. From what I understand, he’s been attacking your folk for years and no one has done anything. Speaking as the ruler of a kingdom and a trained strategist, that is a terrible plan.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>King Ray draws himself up to his full stature. “And you are?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie. I’m… I’m the reason you’re here. It’s my soul that Caleb has. I’m Alex’s… friend.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah. I see. So, you allowed your soul to be taken? Don’t you humans have rules for avoiding such things here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex wants to groan and pinch his Dad’s tail. </span>
  <em>
    <span>No, Willie didn’t “allow” his soul to be taken! It’s very clear that it was taken against his will, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Covington</span>
  <em>
    <span>, Dad!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie, though, smiles. “No, sir. We aren’t experienced in the ways of your people. The merfolk are just myths to us. Precious few have ever claimed to see you, and even then, they are never believed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray huffs. “Well, isn’t that poor oversight.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dad, please. Willie’s right, it wouldn’t just benefit him. It’d benefit the whole </span>
  <em>
    <span>sea </span>
  </em>
  <span>if Covington was taken out.” Alex steps next to Willie, taking his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray eyes their clasped hands and sighs. “Well, I’d be a pretty bad dad, and a pretty bad king, if I didn’t go through with this. You’re right. It’s been wrong to merely pretend Covington doesn’t exist. All right, let’s get this done.” he levels his trident at Alex. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Wait</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex throws his hands up. “Wait! Give me a minute.” The king, bewildered, lowers his trident. “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex turns to Willie, who’s looking at him with ink in his eyes. He pauses, unsure, and then throws his arms around the other boy. Willie presses his face into Alex’s shoulder, and Alex balls his hand in the back of Willie’s shirt. They hold on to each other for maybe ten seconds, and then Willie abruptly steps back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You should… you should go.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes scan Willie’s face. He can’t say what he’s looking for, but he says, “yeah. Okay.” A small smile comes to Willie’s face (Poseidon, he’s cute), and he says, “See you around, </span>
  <em>
    <span>hot dog</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A bit of warmth comes to Alex’s cheeks, but he maintains his gaze as Willie turns and walks up the beach, turning around exactly once, at the crest of the hill up to the palace, waving his hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ahem.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex turns to his father and his friends, and Reggie has a confused look on his face.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What’s a hot dog?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That earns a laugh out of Alex, who says, “I’ll tell you later, Reg.” and then turns to his father.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Deep breath in, deep breath out. Don’t let the ink cloud your judgement. He steps into the surf, and Ray raises his trident.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>---------------------</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s surprisingly easy to find Covington’s club again, and after a pep talk from his pod (“You got this!” from Luke, “I believe in you!” from Julie, and “Kick his tentacles!” from Reggie), he swims inside the club entrance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He avoids the algae this time, but he can’t help but think </span>
  <em>
    <span>maybe one of them is Willie</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Or maybe that’s the ink talking. He can’t tell.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He comes closer and closer to the room where he first met Covington, and then he hears that singsong voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Little darling, there you are! I was beginning to worry.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swims inside the room.</span>
  <em>
    <span>.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb is sitting on the backless chair in front of his mirror, smirking at Alex. He glances around. Everything is the same, save for the shelf of glass bottles that was previously in one corner. It’s been replaced with… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s breath catches. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie is slumped against the side of a cage looking to be made of whale bone and sinew. </span>
  <em>
    <span>How? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Alex had seen him not an hour ago!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ink seeps out of balance, and Alex scrambles for a hold. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at the cage, and upon closer inspection, it’s not… </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>Willie. It looks exactly like him, but he’s glowing a faint purple, and he’s wispy around the edges. This must be his soul. Strange to have him trapped like this, though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stall, Alex. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He can’t breathe underwater.” is the first thing Alex says. Caleb scoffs. “Poseidon, you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>dense</span>
  </em>
  <span>. That is not your precious human boy. It’s merely his </span>
  <em>
    <span>soul, </span>
  </em>
  <span>little dorsal fin! Now, you must be wondering, </span>
  <em>
    <span>dear Caleb, why are you keeping him in view of everyone that comes to your club, and not giving him a new life in the algae that lines your club walls?</span>
  </em>
  <span> Well,” he says, flicking his wrist at the cage, “that really takes all the </span>
  <em>
    <span>fun </span>
  </em>
  <span>away from it, doesn’t it? He’s like this for you, of course!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He flicks his wrist again, and the silhouette twitches. </span>
  <em>
    <span>This must be how Caleb sends out those jolt things. He hurts Willie’s soul, and in turn, Willie’s body.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex turns his eyes back to Willie - or, the part of Willie that is trapped here - and moves without thinking closer to the cage, wants with everything in him to set the soul free.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, no, dorsal fin, he’s not going anywhere.” says Caleb, as if reading Alex’s mind. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And, if all goes well, neither will you. You see,” he says, sweeping his hand around the room, “my plan was never to only get that boy of yours. I’ve been exiled for thirty years, Alexander. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Thirty. Years</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Can you imagine that? Well, I had a lot of time to truly </span>
  <em>
    <span>think </span>
  </em>
  <span>about how I would get revenge on your father. And do you know what I arrived at, little darling?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stall.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shakes his head. “No, sir.” he tacks on the </span>
  <em>
    <span>sir </span>
  </em>
  <span>in hopes of placating Caleb, and clearly he likes it, because he smiles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I studied the goings-on of the king's latest travesty, </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, little darling. You, with your… </span>
  <em>
    <span>fascination </span>
  </em>
  <span>with the world above. I monitored you, sent my Dante and Fuego to push you on your way to the prince.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen. All this time…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Did you think that hurricane on the ship was random? Oh, dorsal fin. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>caused that. And then you came to my little club here, all tearstained and desperate to see the surface. All was going to plan.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He advances on Alex. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Of course, I wasn’t planning on that fool of a prince to fall for you so quickly. Ah, well, it’s a good thing you’re here, yes?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stall.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I… Willie isn’t a fool!” is what he blurts out, and Caleb stops. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he laughs. He cackles, and when he stops, there’s an evil smirk on his face. “Oh, dorsal fin, you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>smitten</span>
  </em>
  <span>, aren’t you? So </span>
  <em>
    <span>romantic</span>
  </em>
  <span>, this is! It’s almost enough to warm my heart. Almost.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex pauses. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Is </span>
  </em>
  <span>he in love with Willie?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>No. That’s impossible, he’s only known him for two days.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So why…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Darling, let me tell you something I see in every little mer’s eyes when they come to me: </span>
  <em>
    <span>desire</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Desire for a different body, for a life elsewhere. Most often, however, it's a desire for </span>
  <em>
    <span>love</span>
  </em>
  <span>. And that, dorsal fin, is what I see in </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>. You love that boy of yours so much, don’t you?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is silent, his mind racing. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Stall, Alex.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Answer, me, dorsal fin.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex meets Covington’s eyes, a purple fire growing in them. “No. I don’t love him. No one could. Not after two days.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fire dies. “What?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p><span>“I don’t love him. But… I think I </span><em><span>can</span></em> <span>love him. And that had better be enough for you, because it’s enough for me!”</span></p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know what he’s saying, doesn’t even know if he’s directing his speech at Covington, at himself, at his father, at the whole bloody sea, but the ink is scattered and it’s Alex’s turn to advance on Covington.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not obsessed with humans, it’s just that the whole damn </span>
  <em>
    <span>sea </span>
  </em>
  <span>is afraid of them! I’m the only one who knows that they can be awful, they can be killers, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes, </span>
  </em>
  <span>but you know what? They can be </span>
  <em>
    <span>kind</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>caring</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>just like us! </span>
  </em>
  <span>We have never actively and openly tried to make a bridge between our world and the world above, and that is </span>
  <em>
    <span>wrong! </span>
  </em>
  <span>We judge without evidence, we blame without true knowledge of what and </span>
  <em>
    <span>who </span>
  </em>
  <span>it is we’re blaming, and I am </span>
  <em>
    <span>sick </span>
  </em>
  <span>of it!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The fire is gone and Covington looks as though he is scrambling for some hold on the conversation. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>agree </span>
  </em>
  <span>with you, dorsal fin! Why do you think I gave you legs in the first place?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You just said it was to get revenge on my father.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but </span>
  <em>
    <span>also </span>
  </em>
  <span>because </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>was like you as a boy! I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>fascinated </span>
  </em>
  <span>with the world above, and </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>wanted to learn more! For my curiosity, I was </span>
  <em>
    <span>punished</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Stop trying to guilt me.” says Alex, his hands balled into fists at his sides. “I know what you’re doing. Manipulation is something I know well.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s something he’s been actively trying to avoid, to forget, to push out of his mind, wrap up in ink and force into that cage, but here, now, when he’s feeling </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he admits it to himself: he has trauma.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got trauma, Covington.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And those words, enough, in some eyes, to set off a room full of laughter, because mer his age joke like that, but sometimes the best way you can say something will make others laugh and you won’t care because </span>
  <em>
    <span>finally </span>
  </em>
  <span>admitting it to yourself will flip a switch in your soul.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’ve got trauma, and it’s taken control of me for </span>
  <em>
    <span>two years</span>
  </em>
  <span> solid. I’m afraid of most things. I’m afraid of you, of the sea around me, of those damn eels you employ.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For once, it seems like Covington has nothing to say.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And right here, right now, </span>
  <em>
    <span>I’m </span>
  </em>
  <span>taking control of </span>
  <em>
    <span>my </span>
  </em>
  <span>fear. And Poseidon knows it’s past time.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s breathing hard, and in the back of his mind, he feels a </span>
  <em>
    <span>tug</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a </span>
  <em>
    <span>pull </span>
  </em>
  <span>that he only gets when someone in his pod is singing </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally Free. </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Stall, Alex </span>
  </em>
  <span>has become </span>
  <em>
    <span>get out of there right now, Alex</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He backs away from Covington, who is staring at Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you finished, dorsal fin?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Get out, Alex.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If you </span>
  <em>
    <span>are</span>
  </em>
  <span>, we could get back to the matter at </span>
  <em>
    <span>hand</span>
  </em>
  <span>,” he says, flicking his wrist toward Willie’s caged soul (</span>
  <em>
    <span>jolt) </span>
  </em>
  <span>once again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s like it doesn’t even matter to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But that wasn’t the point, was it? Alex wasn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>trying </span>
  </em>
  <span>to prove anything to Covington, he was just in Alex’s general vicinity.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Negotiation, or lack thereof, for your human boy.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex opens his mouth, and the pull gets </span>
  <em>
    <span>harder </span>
  </em>
  <span>and then the club explodes around him.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>not a huge fan of this chapter but that's okay<br/>i don't have a lot of chapters on backlog right now, so i'll try to stick to my relatively quick update schedule, but i'm not sure how it's gonna go down.</p><p>however, this fic is almost done, so we got that going for us!</p><p>okay, as always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated :)</p><p>fair winds, my lovely readers<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps if you want to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps here's a link to a discord that i made that you can join if you wanna!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordions</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0010"><h2>10. Chapter Ten</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <em>
    <span>Slap</span>
  </em>
  <span>. “Alex! Wake up, you idiot!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He blinks his eyes open to see Julie’s face uncomfortably close to his, and lets out a shout, jerking up and banging his forehead into Julie’s nose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ouch! Lexie!” comes her pained cry. He sits up and glances around, rubbing his forehead. He’s in his room in the palace, sitting on his bed. “You shouldn’t have had your face so close to mine!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Bet you didn’t say that to Willie yesterday.” mutters another voice in the room, and Alex squawks, glaring at Luke, who is sat with his arms crossed on a stool in the corner.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I - you - </span>
  <em>
    <span>shut up!</span>
  </em>
  <span>”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s snickers from all around the room, and Alex realises that it’s not just him and his pod, as he’d initially thought. He glances around again and identifies Flynn, Julie’s best friend outside of the pod, and Carrie, Alex’s performing partner and Flynn’s crush.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What are you guys doing here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s confused. “Hold on, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what happened</span>
  </em>
  <span>?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a shift in the room. “Guys, </span>
  <em>
    <span>what happened?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie is the first to speak. “We blew up the club. Dante and Fuego were destroyed, but we can’t find any evidence that Caleb was. The uh… the good news is, we saw the release of all the souls when the club exploded. We think that everyone regained their souls.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex stares at her. “Caleb got away?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t know that for sure, Alex.” said the king, ducking into the room. “For all we know, he could have been incinerated. It’s best if we lay low for a while until we get confirmation of his death.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex groans. “That’s just a repeat of what we were doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>before </span>
  </em>
  <span>we attacked Caleb! This was entirely </span>
  <em>
    <span>too </span>
  </em>
  <span>easy. There’s no way he got away.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Carrie, leaning against the wall with her arms crossed over her stomach, snorts. “I think the human world got to you, Alex. Things </span>
  <em>
    <span>don’t </span>
  </em>
  <span>happen down here. Caleb’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Alex, so just… breathe.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shakes his head. “Look, we were avoiding admitting Covington’s presence for </span>
  <em>
    <span>years</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and look what it got us! I take </span>
  <em>
    <span>one </span>
  </em>
  <span>little trip up to the surface and then suddenly he’s a great threat! Why do you think that happened?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie opens her mouth, but falters. “I - wait. Where’s Reggie?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Here! Sorry, I was trying to open an oyster.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, so… no one’s singing, right? Everyone’s here?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Flynn furrows her eyebrows. “Jules, what are you on about?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then Alex feels it, too. “I feel it too. And we’re all here so who could be…” he trails off, realisation coming to his mind. “Willie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What? Alex, he’s not even… we don’t even know him! </span>
  <em>
    <span>How </span>
  </em>
  <span>is that possible?” asks Luke indignantly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I don’t know, but we </span>
  <em>
    <span>have </span>
  </em>
  <span>to get up there, something’s wrong.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“HOLD IT.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The shout of the king startles Alex, and he looks over at everyone outside his pod who are looking at him with confused looks on their faces.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“WHAT is happening? Why are we talking about Willie?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex bites his lip. “Julie, wanna take point on this one?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie shoots Alex a glare and looks at her dad appeasingly. She explains the thing with </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally Free</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He nods when she finishes, “understandable. Magic is something we deal in under the sea. But what does Alex’s boyfriend have to do with this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex sighs. “He’s not - okay, I don’t know what he is, but that’s not the point. The point is: something’s wrong, and we need to go to the surface to help.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Alexander. You’ve done enough up there. You’re staying </span>
  <em>
    <span>here</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dad. Ray. My king. If I might disagree: </span>
  <em>
    <span>yes, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Alexander. I’ve done things up there, but it’s not enough. I’m going up </span>
  <em>
    <span>there</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex and Ray are locked in a glaring contest, and usually this would set the ink off seeping into his thoughts, but right now, he’s got priorities.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Dad,” says Julie, swimming next to Alex and taking his hand, “we’ll go with him. Let us just go up and see what’s going on, and help if Alex’s boyfriend needs it! I promise, we won’t get hurt.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke and Reggie swim to Alex’s other side, Luke taking his hand and Reggie gripping his shoulder. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, we’re coming too, but I’m not holding your hand.” comes the voice of Carrie, also swimming next to Alex, dragging Flynn with her. Together, they stare down the king, who throws his hands up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Fine</span>
  </em>
  <span>. But I’m sending Bobby up with you, and if </span>
  <em>
    <span>anything </span>
  </em>
  <span>goes wrong, he’ll report back to me and I’ll take over. Deal?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a silence, which is broken by Flynn. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, is your </span>
  <em>
    <span>whole </span>
  </em>
  <span>family this stubborn? Deal, Ray. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Covington</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This inspires a few giggles from around the room.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Okay, now </span>
  <em>
    <span>let’s go</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” says Alex, eager to get out, eager to help Willie, and eager to see him again.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>As they swim out the door, Alex can hear Ray muttering, </span>
  <em>
    <span>“why do I feel like this is going to go very very badly?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They swim down the golden shining hallways of the palace, and Alex is reminded of how Willie’s palace is golden like this.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They pass the dining hall, and Alex is reminded of the great window in Willie’s palace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They swim out the door, and Alex is reminded of how free Willie was in his palace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They pass Alex’s grotto, and Alex is reminded of its mirror, on the palace grounds, up there.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, you okay?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke’s voice cuts through his thoughts, and he realises that the others are talking and joking all around him. He meets Luke’s eyes, and his best friend is looking at him with concern in his eyes. “Yeah, I’m okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe he’s not, he can’t say. Maybe all this daydreaming and desperation is just leading to a giant ink explosion.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke offers him a smile, and he shoots one back. Luke isn’t satisfied, and he starts telling Alex about a song he and Julie have written, one that they want to call </span>
  <em>
    <span>Edge of Great</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Alex has never been more grateful for his pod’s existence than in this moment.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke, who doesn’t usually notice when something is wrong, seems to have learned something from Reggie, because he keeps talking to Alex, keeps him distracted, until they near the surface.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Uh, guys?” comes the troubled voice of Flynn, and Alex looks up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s gotten darker as they’ve neared the surface, and Alex hasn’t noticed. The sky above the surface is dark and swirling, and Alex can hear the pitter-patter of rain against the water’s surface.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I think this won’t go well.” says Reggie. “We still have to try.” replies Alex, biting his lip and losing a little of his hold on the ink.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They break the surface and can barely see anything. It’s dark, and the wind is howling, and the rain is coming down in sheets, and the wind is picking up water from the sea and dropping it back down, and at the center of it all is Caleb.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s glowing with a bright purple light, and this is probably the only reason Alex can see the mer. He’s huge, much bigger than he’d been in the club, and he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>cackling</span>
  </em>
  <span>, </span>
  <em>
    <span>cackling, cackling</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Little dorsal fin!” he bellows. “</span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I was beginning to wonder if you’d show up! And look, you’ve brought friends. How nice!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ink shoots out like octopus tentacles, attacking parts of his mind, and Alex can feel his breathing begin to speed up.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How did he know?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>How does he know everything? He must have known that we were planning to ambush him at the club, he probably wasn’t even there oh Poseidon oh Poseidon what have I done</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Guys, what in </span>
  <em>
    <span>Covington</span>
  </em>
  <span> are we going to do?” asks Luke, ink seeping into his voice, too. No one answers. Compared to Caleb, they’re merely specks in the circle of life.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You seem to have forgotten that </span>
  <em>
    <span>I </span>
  </em>
  <span>am here.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A voice that’s spiked with ink speaks, and the group turns to the small crab on Carrie’s shoulder. “Your father sent me with you to report back, and seeing as how things up here are… </span>
  <em>
    <span>less </span>
  </em>
  <span>than ideal, I should think we should send for him. I will swim back to the seafloor and bring him up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We don’t have a better plan, and Dad’s more powerful than all of us combined. Bobby, go get him.” says Julie, calling in her rank as the eldest child of the king.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They watch as Bobby disappears beneath the waves. “Okay, now we just have to stall until Dad gets…” Alex trails off as he notices something in the distance. “Is that a ship?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He points to a dark blob on the water, coming closer and closer. He thinks it </span>
  <em>
    <span>is </span>
  </em>
  <span>a ship, though who would be careless enough to sail in this kind of weather? </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>is. What kind of idiot would be sailing in weather like this?” asks Luke incredulously.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The six merfolk bob up and down in the water, watching the ship come closer and closer, and Alex thinks he can hear a familiar voice shouting.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Caleb! Hey, Covington!” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A cannon sound.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Damn it, that’s my idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Alex thinks, and then turns red at the thought. Willie’s not - he’s not - oh, screw it, maybe he is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But that’s not the point right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Right now, Willie, that </span>
  <em>
    <span>stupid</span>
  </em>
  <span>, beautiful boy, is piloting a ship and headed straight for the giant octopus man in the water.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>What’s he planning on doing? Cannon-ing him? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Willie’s an idiot.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>A cute idiot</span>
  </em>
  <span>. A voice in the back of Alex’s head mutters. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Shut up</span>
  </em>
  <span>. Mutters Alex back. Out loud, he says, “we have to help him.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie throws her hands up. “That’s what we came up here to do, but that was before we knew about the giant octopus man! That </span>
  <em>
    <span>kind </span>
  </em>
  <span>of changes the plan! What in Poseidon are we supposed to </span>
  <em>
    <span>do</span>
  </em>
  <span>, Alex?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s ink filling her voice to the brim, it’s taking over her mind, and she’s losing focus on the sea, Alex can see it in her eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey, Julie.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke takes her hands, flailing around in the storm. “Hey, easy. It’s insane what’s happening, okay, I get it, we all get it. But we can’t do anything if we all let the ink take over.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sounds like Alex, and maybe Luke’s learned something from Alex’s ink, because Julie focuses on Luke and her breathing slows and she leans into him and it’s agonisingly cute and Alex wants a hug from Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, little darlings!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s snapped out of his stupor at the booming sound of Caleb’s voice, followed by a cackle. He looks up at the octopus, and Caleb is pointing out to sea.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Look, little darlings, here comes your father, to save the day.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The six of them whip around in relief, they see a glow under the sea, getting brighter and brighter as it comes closer and closer, and then the sea explodes and it’s Ray Molina gripping his trident, looking for all the world like the king he is.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“CALEB COVINGTON!” he shouts, and Alex flinches, because he’s a bit scary like this. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hello, Ray, dear.” Caleb doesn’t sound inky, in fact he sounds pleased. He wiggles his fingers at the king and shoots him a grin. “Don’t you look dashing.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray levels his trident at Caleb. “I’ve overpowered you before, Covington. Don’t make me do it again.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb cackles. “Are we at </span>
  <em>
    <span>threats</span>
  </em>
  <span> now, darling?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t see the tentacle shooting out toward him, but he feels it when it wraps around his waist, lifting him out of the water with a shout.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“ALEX!” he can hear his friends shout his name as he’s lifted far away from the water, he can even maybe hear Willie’s voice in the mix, shouting from a ways away on the ship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s carried up to Caleb’s face, and he’s held there, struggling, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurts</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it feels like something is sapping his energy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb’s voice, next to his ear, booms out again. “I </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>don’t think that’s a good idea.” He tightens his grip on Alex, and Alex gasps for air. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you?”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOW there are have been a lot of cliffhangers for these past couple of chapters, and i am sorry for that.</p><p>kind of.</p><p>IN OTHER NEWS i binge-read "we found wonderland" by ICanSpellConfusionWithAK, (which, like, if you haven't read it yet, WHAT ARE YOU DOING GO READ IT) and now i am emotionally shattered</p><p>hopefully we finish the fic this week</p><p>fair winds, my lovely, lovely readers!<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps if you want to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps here's a link to a discord server that you can join if socialising is your thing!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordd</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0011"><h2>11. Chapter Eleven</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The tentacle squeezes him tighter, tighter, </span>
  <em>
    <span>tighter</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and King Ray looks as though he’s going to lower his trident.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine, Caleb. Fine. Just… let him go.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He lowers the trident, holding out his free hand in a non harmful gesture. The tentacle gets tighter. “Not good enough. You know what I want, darling.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray’s eyes widen, and Alex hears Reggie call, “What does he want, Ray?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king’s eyes shift between Caleb’s face and the tentacle holding Alex, gripping him tighter, tighter. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s struggling is getting less and less energised, he feels like he’s losing </span>
  <em>
    <span>something </span>
  </em>
  <span>very very quickly, and he doesn’t want to find out what. It looks like Ray notices, too, because his head drops.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Fine.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He reaches up for the crown resting upon his head and removes it, tossing it to Caleb. The tentacles holding Alex tosses him to the side in favour of catching the crown, and he falls through the air toward the water. He can hear the screams of his friends, of his dad, but they’re farther off than they were seconds ago, and he shuts his eyes, bracing for impact with the sea. Mer or not, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurts </span>
  </em>
  <span>to make contact with water from a distance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The rain is pelting over his body, he can’t move, his energy is just </span>
  <em>
    <span>gone </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he’s waiting for impact and then he feels his arm being yanked above his head and his fall stops. He looks up and his wrist is gripped in light brown fingers, and he looks higher and Willie’s hanging almost fully over the side of his ship, pupils swimming in a sea of ink, breathing hard.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s another yank on his hand, and then he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>pulled </span>
  </em>
  <span>up, up over the side of the ship and he’s being crushed into Willie, the other boy’s arms wrapping around him tightly, and he can’t stand because of his tail, but that’s okay because Willie’s lifting him just a little bit up, so his fins brush the wooden floor of the ship, and the rain is still pelting down around them and he can feel it on his hair and then someone clears their throat and Willie sets Alex down against the side of the boat, facing the person, standing in front of Alex protectively.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>What, </span>
  </em>
  <span>Grimsby?” his voice is cold, and he sounds almost enraged. What could have happened between the two of them that they shifted from joking and jesting to such coldness in Willie’s voice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex can hear Caleb over the rain, cackling and cackling and cackling and Alex realises that there’s a brilliantly white light emanating from where the laughter is coming from and he must have put the crown on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Prince William, I </span>
  <em>
    <span>truly </span>
  </em>
  <span>don’t see this as necessary.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Grimsby sounds inky, and Alex can see that he’s wringing his hands and looking at Willie desperately. He looks like he’s trying incredibly hard to stay steady on his feet on the rocking ship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Do you </span>
  <em>
    <span>not </span>
  </em>
  <span>see the giant </span>
  <em>
    <span>octopus </span>
  </em>
  <span>man in the middle of the ocean? Is that something that you’re immune to seeing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yes, well, it’s the duty of the merfolk to take care of their own, and it looks like it’s going fine how it is.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, so this is the </span>
  <em>
    <span>merfolk’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>fault?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex licks his lips. He’s still losing energy, but he reaches out, “Willie.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy snaps around to Alex, ink still clouding his eyes. Alex’s arms are stretching toward him, and Willie’s face changes, and he drops to his knees next to Alex, his hands gripping Alex’s shoulders.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Are you okay? What’s wrong, ‘Lex?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ah, that is one other thing. I understand this </span>
  <em>
    <span>Alex</span>
  </em>
  <span> is your friend, but really, William, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>mer</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie groans, turning his head to glare at Grimsby. “You need to shut up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he turns back to Alex and presses his lips to his in a chaste kiss, and it’s sudden and surprising, but welcome all the same. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They break apart, but Willie doesn’t move very far away. He’s close enough to Alex that Alex can mutter “</span>
  <em>
    <span>what are you doing here?”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie looks at Alex, “I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>helping</span>
  </em>
  <span> you. If five minutes ago was </span>
  <em>
    <span>any </span>
  </em>
  <span>indication, you are </span>
  <em>
    <span>criminally </span>
  </em>
  <span>under equipped to fight this guy. And I want to help.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon save me from beautifully kind humans.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie’s fingers brush over Alex’s neck, and it’s like the calm before the storm, the sea around them fades out and the other boy is all Alex can focus on.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then there’s a great </span>
  <em>
    <span>BOOM </span>
  </em>
  <span>and the ship is rocked by another great wave, and Willie is on his feet, still standing in front of Alex, looking toward where the light is shining.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We have to stop him. Alex, he’s wearing your dad’s crown. What does that mean?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex’s eyes widen. He’s wearing Ray’s crown. The crown is on his head. Alex reaches up, grabs the ledge above him, hauls himself to his fins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Woah, woah, ‘Lex, what’re you doing?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex casts a look at Willie, biting his lip. “I - I have to go. If he has the crown, then he has all the power of the sea, he can-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s cut short by a sudden swell of water rushing over the side of the ship and pushing everyone save Alex against the other side of the ship. Alex is left gripping to the ledge, his tail flapping in the rainy air.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He has to get back, if he can get back to his friends, maybe… maybe there’s a chance that they can do something.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He casts a look at Willie, desperation in the boy’s eyes, and he falls over the side of the ship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, will he </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>stop running away?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The water doesn’t feel cold as he hits it, but he’s almost swept further away from the ship and from his pod as he hits another wave. The good thing is: whatever energy he was losing is coming back through the sea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He ducks under the water and tries to make heads or tails of the scene. He can see the keel of Willie’s ship, swaying on the water, he can still see that brilliant white light emanating from Caleb’s general radius, he can see the giant tentacles working to keep Caleb afloat, spinning madly under the water, and if he concentrates, he can see the frantic movement of the tails of his pod. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When he surfaces, he narrowly misses one of Caleb’s swinging tentacles. He’s next to Reggie, and he puts a hand on the merboy’s shoulder to alert him to his presence. Reggie looks at Alex and the ink that Alex can see in his eyes clears somewhat, and Reggie pulls him into a hug.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The others swim over to him, too, and both Carrie, Flynn, </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>Julie slap him for “being too careless and not cautious enough”, which, like, he’s probably the </span>
  <em>
    <span>most </span>
  </em>
  <span>cautious mer he knows so they’re exaggerating.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>King Ray offers him a soft smile, but Alex can see the pain in his eyes. The mer has lost nearly everything, and now he’s lost the one thing that gave him traction under the sea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex turns his eyes to Caleb, giant, powerful Caleb, who is </span>
  <em>
    <span>cackling </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>cackling </span>
  </em>
  <span>and brandishing the trident and the crown atop his head is the source of the brilliant light. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, little darlings, I’ve got what I want, now! Look at me, the land and sea in the palm of my hand!” he throws his arms out to the side. Once a performer, always a performer, Alex supposes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“And now, for my first trick.” he points the trident at the little ship so close to him, still firing cannonballs at Caleb’s tail, and the ink shoots out faster than Alex can say </span>
  <em>
    <span>flumfer</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Willie’s on that ship, if it explodes with him still on it, oh Poseidon, no, no, no</span>
  </em>
  <span>…. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He wants to kill Caleb, wrap his fingers around the mer’s neck, and Alex isn’t usually a violent person but when it comes to this…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He can do nothing of the sort, though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s just a mer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A mer with an obsession with the human world.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A mer who is quite possibly falling in love with a human.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A mer who watches as Caleb levels the trident and shoots a bolt of pure energy at the little ship with his… with Willie on it, bobbing up and down on the waves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex shouts as he watches the ship break in half, snapping down the middle and tossing its passengers every which way. He can feel Luke and Reggie’s hands wrapped around his arms, keeping him from swimming over there, and in the moment he hates them for it, but somewhere in the back of his mind he knows that they mean well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Willie!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>the boy isn’t… </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He would have been swept under the water almost instantly, and unlike Alex, he can’t breathe under water.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, this is all Alex’s fault.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Damn him and his obsession with the humans.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He hears Caleb’s cackle, and Alex is entirely too far away from the ship to do anything, and he can’t see if anyone who fell is struggling in the sea because the rain is pelting down all around him, blinding him to the sea and sky.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I must say, little darling, it </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>pain me, just a little, to do that. You two were so… </span>
  <em>
    <span>refreshing</span>
  </em>
  <span>. It’s not every day that you see a human with as much compassion as yours.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The storm seems to be calming somewhat. Caleb has what he wants, now. He doesn’t need the pomp and circumstance of the hurricane anymore. It’s like the comedown from an ink attack - still frantic and moving, but slowing, losing energy.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t move, keeps his eyes locked on the mer towering over everyone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen, little darlings. I’m a respectable mer, which you would </span>
  <em>
    <span>know</span>
  </em>
  <span>, had you not banished me,” he glares at Ray, who holds his gaze, “so I’ll give you this chance: leave me be. Let me rule the seven seas and the land they support, and I will leave your little underwater kingdom alone. A fair trade for your lives, is it not?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie’s voice is first, turning to their father and gripping his arm. “Dad, you’d better not be considering this.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Oh, and I’m a </span>
  <em>
    <span>tad </span>
  </em>
  <span>bit impatient, you know, taking over the world calls, so keep in mind that the clock is ticking.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He twirls the trident lazily in his hands, and Alex feels a surge of anger flow through him. The trident of King Ray is not something to be handled like a plaything. That trident, for his dad, is like his flumfers. He finds reassurance in it, and now Caleb is treating it like it’s merely a tool for destruction.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He turns to his dad. “I agree with Julie. Dad, you can’t just </span>
  <em>
    <span>let </span>
  </em>
  <span>him take over the sea.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His father looks from Julie to Alex to the rest of them, desperation painted on their faces.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“What am I supposed to do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He sounds helpless, and Alex can’t help but think if this is how he acted when his wife died.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Just…” Alex trails off. He doesn’t know. He genuinely doesn’t. For a great underwater people, they are relatively powerless.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s movement in the corner of his vision, deliberate and slow, and he turns to see half of the ship that Willie’d been sailing charting a course toward Caleb, its prow pointing out, sharp and stabby, toward the mer. If he focuses a little more, he can see someone climbing and leaping from swinging rope to swinging rope, their hair flying in the wind, and Alex breathes out a sigh of relief. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he’s lucky as land.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They both are.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And somehow, he knows </span>
  <em>
    <span>exactly </span>
  </em>
  <span>what Willie’s trying to do. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes his dad’s arm, subtly gestures to the ship, and Ray’s eyebrows shoot up. “That boy of yours is insane.” is what he mutters.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex rolls his eyes. “Yeah, but he’s trying to save our lives, so cut him some slack.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray nods. “What should we do?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Keep him focused on us, keep him distracted.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another nod, and the message is passed around the whole group. (Flynn and Luke shake their heads in disbelief at what Willie’s trying to do, but they’re good friends, so they agree with the new harebrained plan that could get them all killed.)</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex stays with his pod, even though he wants nothing more than to swim over to where Willie is struggling with the broken hull of his ship (that’s the second one in two days, Alex must be bad luck). He can do nothing to help Willie except distract Covington and cross his fingers that this’ll work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’ll work.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hopefully.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>hello hello hello my lovely readers!</p><p>we are SO CLOSE to the end of this fic, and then i've got a *few* more ideas for other aus, maybe one of them'll be headed your way in a few weeks!</p><p>i hope you liked this chapter and did not like grimsby</p><p>as always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!</p><p>fair winds, my lovely readers :)<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps if you'd like to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://www.tumblr.com/blog/fairylightsandrainydays">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps here's the link to a discord server that YOU, yes, YOU can join if you wanna!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordio</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0012"><h2>12. Chapter Twelve</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>In the end, Alex can’t believe it was so easy. But it was. No tricks, it was just… </span>
  <em>
    <span>that easy.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Caleb Covington!” calls his father. “I…” he falters for a moment. “I agree to your terms. So long as you leave me and mine alone, as will we!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb smiles. It’s less of a smile and more of an </span>
  <em>
    <span>evil grin</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but Alex doesn’t know the word for that. “Oh, Ray, isn’t that </span>
  <em>
    <span>wonderful!</span>
  </em>
  <span> Now, all you have to do is sign this little contract,” he conjures a thin piece of paper from midair (that mer and his contracts), “so that I </span>
  <em>
    <span>know </span>
  </em>
  <span>you won’t go back on your promise, and then we can be done with it!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray casts inked eyes at Alex, who is the only one out of the seven mer that seems to know exactly how this is going to play out. It’s like the ink is draining out with the storm, and Alex is able to focus on exactly what needs to happen. The ship is coming ever closer to Caleb, and they only have to stall for a little more time.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’ve got nothing, no weapons, no music makers, only each other and Caleb grinning down evilly at them, holding out a contract.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And maybe this idea is… kind of insane, but it’s all they’ve got except to </span>
  <em>
    <span>actually </span>
  </em>
  <span>sign that contract.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Covington!” calls Alex, startling the rest of his pod. “Before we sign your contract, which we </span>
  <em>
    <span>will </span>
  </em>
  <span>do, we have one simple request for you, respectable mer!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Caleb arches an eyebrow, but he can’t back out of it, he has to play his </span>
  <em>
    <span>respectable mer </span>
  </em>
  <span>part, so he shrugs and says, “yes? Your request, dorsal fin?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex grabs Reggie, Julie, and Luke, and says, “my pod wants to sing you a song.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The reaction from his pod is varied, from Julie looking at him with a face that says </span>
  <em>
    <span>are you insane? </span>
  </em>
  <span>to Reggie’s grin because he just loves making music in general, to Luke hitting his shoulder and voicing Julie’s expression.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Desperate times call for desperate measures,” is what he mutters to all of them. “We’re doing </span>
  <em>
    <span>Finally Free</span>
  </em>
  <span>, we all know it really well, okay? Okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, we don’t even have our music makers.” says Julie. “How are we supposed to do this?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We just have to go with it, okay?” he sighs.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a moment where everyone just kind of stares at Alex, mirroring Julie’s expression, and then Luke sighs and says, “once again, it’s the only plan we have. Let’s do it.”</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Luckily, they have experience making music underwater, so when Julie starts singing, she isn’t met with much of a hindrance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s about the same as when they music in Alex’s grotto, except that they don’t have their music makers, and they’re all singing to make up for it, and they’re doing this to stall for their lives, and Willie is still creeping up behind Caleb with his ship.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So. Just the same.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their voices overlap in harmony, and they haven’t technically performed this in front of, like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>anyone</span>
  </em>
  <span> before, so it’s a bit awkward when they start, but once they find their groove, they get into it, Alex clapping his hands, Reggie doing something weird in the back, Luke and Julie taking point for the verses.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I got a spark in me, hands up if you can see,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>And you’re a part of me, hands up if you’re with me</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Now till eternity, hands up if you believe,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Been so long, and now I’m finally free!</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they finish, Ray, Carrie, and Flynn are staring at them with shocked expressions. “Um, where the Covington did that come from?” is the first thing Flynn says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Luke scratches his head. “Music making practise?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It looks like Flynn is about to start freaking out about </span>
  <em>
    <span>what the Poseidon you guys are amazing</span>
  </em>
  <span> and </span>
  <em>
    <span>why have you not been performing </span>
  </em>
  <span>(he knows his friends pretty well), but she’s cut off by a loud </span>
  <em>
    <span>clap </span>
  </em>
  <span>coming from Caleb.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, dorsal fin, that was truly entertaining, but I’m afraid you’ll have to get on with signing my little contract so that I won’t have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill you</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” his voice hardens at the end and Alex can tell that he’s angry, but he can also tell that Willie just needs a few more seconds, so he straightens up and says, “no.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Caleb’s face morphs into rage and he points the trident at Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>No? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Oh, little dorsal fin, you’ve made the wrong choice.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He scrunches his face up, concentrating on the trident, looking as though he wants to send out the top-most blast of power, and then suddenly, his face falls.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He loses his grip on the trident and it slips from his hand. Ray darts forward to reclaim it, and as Caleb looks down to see the pointed tip of a broken ship sticking through his stomach, The king shoots that power blast right at him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then he just… dissolves.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s like the sea consumes him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s there and then he’s not, and only the crown is left, floating atop the waves. Ray scoops that up, too, and sets it back on his head, turning to the others with a smile on his face. “We did it.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Alex is happy, sure, he’s elated, but that’s not what he’s focusing on right now.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He ducks under the water, headed straight for where the ship is slowly sinking into the water. He doesn’t know how Willie’d managed to keep it afloat for the ten minutes or so it took to kill Caleb (yep, they did that, he’ll process it later), but it’s sinking and he can see Willie sinking with it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He swims right up to the ship and after a few seconds of searching, he sees Willie under the water. He grabs one of the boy’s arms and hauls him up, swimming to shore, not too far away, and throws him up on land.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For a few moments, Willie doesn’t move, and then he coughs up some water, and Alex lets out a breath he didn’t know he’d been holding.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re okay.” he says it like a demand, like a fact, like </span>
  <em>
    <span>you’d better be okay or I swear to Poseidon I will cry</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie sits up, clears his throat. “Yeah, I’m okay. Inhaled a hell of a lot of salt water, but I’m okay.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex is a few feet away, rocking back and forth on the sand, his tail pulled up to his chin.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie notices, because of course, and he wrinkles his brow. “You okay, ‘Lex?” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex doesn’t know. He really doesn’t. Physically, he’s fine, a few scratches, maybe, but nothing terrible.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Mentally?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He takes a moment to focus, and the ink is flowing freely now, because the adrenaline burst he’d had in the water is seeping away and he’s maybe possibly not okay.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at Willie, and the other boy sees the ink in his eyes, and he comes closer, taking Alex’s hand.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex. What’s wrong?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex opens his mouth and everything comes out in a rush. “I’m freaking out because we just killed Caleb </span>
  <em>
    <span>freaking </span>
  </em>
  <span>Covington and it felt entirely too easy and in the moment it was a little bit terrifying and I was worried about </span>
  <em>
    <span>you </span>
  </em>
  <span>and my pod and </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon </span>
  </em>
  <span>I-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s cut off by Willie crashing his lips to his own, and though it’s not the first time it’s happened, and Alex dearly hopes it won’t be the last, he’s surprised. When Willie pulls back, he’s looking at Alex with ink in his eyes.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey. It’s okay, okay? It </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>seem too easy, but let me say that it was probably so easy because no one’s ever tried it before, right? Like, directly. You know?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Alex meets his eyes, and Willie’s right, and for some reason, he’s really calming down now. This never happens. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I- yeah, you’re right.” he says, offering Willie a watery smile. The other boy grins back. “Of course I am.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lexie? You okay, little brother?” Alex turns his eyes to the side and his pod (and his dad) are swimming to shore. They’re all wearing grins.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He nods at Julie, and Flynn seems to take that as her cue to prop her elbows on the sand and smirk at Willie conspiratorially. “So, you’re Willie? Alex has told us </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>much about you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex squawks. “I have </span>
  <em>
    <span>not! </span>
  </em>
  <span>I’ve barely even mentioned him!” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie snickers. “You haven’t mentioned me? Hot dog, I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>hurt</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, I’m </span>
  <em>
    <span>sorry</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but there was this whole thing with the giant </span>
  <em>
    <span>octopus man </span>
  </em>
  <span>threatening to </span>
  <em>
    <span>kill us</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie waves him off, a glimmer in his eye. “Old news. Been there, done that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Wait, did you get your soul back?” asks Reggie. Willie’s smile falls a little bit. “Yeah, I did. Grimsby was there and he was… </span>
  <em>
    <span>less </span>
  </em>
  <span>than enthusiastic about my explanation for why a glowing purple me tackled me.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“So that’s why he was angry at you?” asks Alex. Willie scratches his head. “Yeah, let’s just… go with that.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Well, young man, I’m very happy you have your soul back, but I’m afraid we mer have to go now,” comes the voice of Alex’s father, floating a ways out in the sea. “The longer we stay here, the more we risk attacks from the humans.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>“Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, humans are annoying.” mutters Carrie, and then she notices that everyone is staring at her, and smiles at Willie. “Present company excepted, of course. Though I don’t know you that well.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Trust me, Carrie, he’s not annoying. Mostly.” says Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“AS I WAS SAYING,” says Ray, used to how off track Alex and his friends get, “thank you for your help in defeating Covington, Prince. The mer are in your debt. But we have to </span>
  <em>
    <span>go</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie looks confused, and then he looks at Alex. “So, I won’t see you again?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex realises it at the same time as Willie, and he bites his lip, looking at his father, who shakes his head. “No. It’s too dangerous up here. He could be killed.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie looks almost taken aback, but he says nothing, falling silent for a minute. “Okay. Let me just… give me five minutes.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray inclines his head, and instead of Willie making out with Alex for five minutes (nope, Alex was </span>
  <em>
    <span>definitely </span>
  </em>
  <span>not hoping he’d do that), he picks up a stick and makes complicated drawings in the sand, muttering to himself. The others mostly stay quiet, save for a few murmurs between Luke and Julie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When Willie looks up, there’s a gleam in his eyes. “I have an idea.” without waiting for confirmation from Ray that he can share, he scoots forward, closer to the shore. “Alex told me that the mer and the humans used to trade, right? And that something happened and the trade was stopped.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray looks on edge suddenly. “William, if you’re trying to restart the trading-”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie lifts his hands. “Just hear me out, okay? I know the trading only happened in the lower levels of the kingdom, otherwise I’d be the one to oversee it, and not one of the palace advisors. Yes, I want to restart the trading.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray shakes his head. “Absolutely not. I will not risk the lives of my mer for the possibility of a good relationship with humans.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie rolls his eyes, and it seems like he’s slipping into his princely demeanor, because he crosses his arms. “You’re in my debt. Hear me out.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s soft gasps from the gathered mer, and Alex privately thinks </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon, he’s amazing</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He can feel warmth come to his cheeks at the thought.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray looks angered for a moment, and then realises he is caught, and nods at Willie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“If I were to oversee the trading - </span>
  <em>
    <span>me</span>
  </em>
  <span>, not any of my advisors, and keep my people from hurting yours, it would run much smoother. I am the heir to the throne of this kingdom, and therefore have the full right to instate a new trading system between the mer and my people.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray considers. “And how would you propose we keep this going, if it is only </span>
  <em>
    <span>you</span>
  </em>
  <span>, a human, controlling the trade flow?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He used </span>
  <em>
    <span>we</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He likes the idea.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie bites his lip turning his eyes to Alex. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Alex gets it.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“What if I helped?” he asks. “What if I stayed here, and ran interference between the sea and land?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex, no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” is the first objection, coming from Luke, who has gone far beyond his angry face and is full into outrage. “There’s no </span>
  <em>
    <span>way </span>
  </em>
  <span>you can just… </span>
  <em>
    <span>give up </span>
  </em>
  <span>your life under the sea! And for what? </span>
  <em>
    <span>Him?” </span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He gestures at Willie angrily, and usually Alex would be getting epically mad at Luke, but he knows that this is how his friend processes things, and he raises a good point. As much as Alex wants to stay here (</span>
  <em>
    <span>with Willie) </span>
  </em>
  <span>he knows that the sea means so much to him, and he can’t just give it up, like Luke said.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a silence, and then Reggie says, “Okay, tell me if this is crazy. But like… what if Ray were able to like… hit Alex with a power blast that gave him the ability to swap between a tail and legs? Can he do that?” he turns to Ray. “Can you do that?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king looks shocked. “I’m not sure. I’ve never tried before.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex spreads his hands. “No time like the present, right?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He doesn’t know why he’s so unafraid of the consequences if this goes terribly wrong, but for some reason, he does know that there’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>no way</span>
  </em>
  <span> this can go wrong.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ray looks at Julie, his voice of reason. She heaves a great sigh, but nods. “This is a good idea, Dad.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The king looks back at Alex, sitting on the sand and sighs as well. “Well, now or never, I guess.”</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>did i put in that "now or never" reference purposefully? </p><p>only my fbi agent knows.</p><p>anyway HEY HEY HEY CHECK IT OUT A CHAPTER LIMIT FINALLY </p><p>we've got one chapter left, and i've got a clean idea of what it's going to look like, so that'll be comin atcha 3d by late tomorrow!</p><p>i hope you're as excited as i am, because poseidon knows i am EXCITED</p><p>okay, fair winds, my lovely, lovely readers :)<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps if you want to see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps here's the link to a discord server that YOU can join!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discorddd</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0013"><h2>13. Epilogue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>He wakes on the floor, wrapped in the blankets he’d pulled from the bed. His arms lay flat on the ground, lacking the warmth of another body, and his eyes snap open, ink pooling in the corner of his mind. It’s been three years, and there’s still some fear left.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks up and his breath catches, and the ink is forgotten.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The boy is sat with his back to the window, the sun haloing his hair, catching the wisps that are moving softly in the air from an open window. His hand is holding a drawing pad, his opposite fingers holding a pencil, moving softly over the paper. His eyes are glancing between Alex and the pad.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There are four candles on the table, burned down to their ends. His light brown skin looks golden in the sunlight, and the ring on his finger, the match to one on Alex’s own finger, sparkles.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s beautiful.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex sits up, and Willie looks up at the sudden movement, a smile dancing across his face. “You’re up.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex nods, running fingers through his hair. “I am.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’ve got bedhead.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex huffs. </span>
  <em>
    <span>You didn’t seem to mind that when you were drawing me</span>
  </em>
  <span>. He voices this thought, and Willie’s smile grows bigger. “It’s cute.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And even though, yeah, it’s been three years, Willie still manages to get Alex flustered with little comments like that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex yawns, scrubbing a hand through his hair (</span>
  <em>
    <span>bedhead</span>
  </em>
  <span>) and looks out the window, past Willie. The sea is sparkling under the sun and today is the perfect day for a show.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks back at Willie, who is gazing at Alex with something in his eyes that Alex isn’t afraid to call love. His cheeks warm under the other boy’s eyes and he stands up. There’s no way he’s not getting a kiss when Willie’s looking at him like that, to Covington with morning breath.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He leans down and meets Willie’s lips with his own, and he can feel Willie’s hands dropping the drawing pad and pencil, sliding up his body and cupping his jaw. Alex smiles into the kiss and pulls away, leaving a small peck on Willie’s nose.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He finds clean clothes in the closet and changes quickly, clicking his fanny pack over everything. When he looks back, Willie’s already at the door, grinning and holding out his hand. Alex takes it, and together, they race down the hall to the foyer.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The mer-human trading system has been going very well, and Willie has been filling his role as king better than he had been. He still puts up something of a fight when it means that he loses time he could be spending with Alex or skating, but all in all, it’s been working out.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s nights when he stays up late working through complaints from mer and humans, sure, but Alex brings him tea and soft kisses on his temple, and it’s not ideal for either of them, Alex doesn’t like going to sleep in an empty bed, but it is what it is. And besides, there are always nights like the one before, where Alex falls asleep in a pile of blankets on the floor before Willie gets there, and then Alex wakes up to Willie’s drawing pad and the sound of his pencil. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex knows that these aren’t the only drawings there are, that Willie has ones of Alex on the beach, Alex in a boat on the small sea (</span>
  <em>
    <span>lake </span>
  </em>
  <span>is the human word), Alex’s face awash in candlelight, and many more, folded up and hidden in corners and cracks in his grotto that Willie takes out to smile at when Alex is under the sea for the trading system.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He finds it utterly adorable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Ready for today?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Willie’s voice snaps Alex out of his reverie, and he’s standing in front of his grotto, unlocking the door so that he can grab his board and Alex can grab his flumfers (</span>
  <em>
    <span>yes</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>knows </span>
  </em>
  <span>they’re called “drumsticks” on land, but that doesn’t mean Alex is planning on stopping calling them flumfers).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Yeah. I am. It’s going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>awesome</span>
  </em>
  <span>.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Mostly </span>
  </em>
  <span>ready. He can feel a little bit of ink seeping out, but that’s normal for him!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Nothing to do with today!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Today is the unofficial anniversary of “hi-my-name-is-Willie-and-my-dog-and-I-pancaked-you” day, also known as the first time Alex met Willie. Well, he can’t really say it’s exactly </span>
  <em>
    <span>today</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but it’s a good estimate. Originally, today was supposed to just be a lazy “I’m-going-to-make-you-a-lot-of-pancakes” day, but the last time Alex had visited, he’d mentioned it to his pod, and Luke had insisted on doing something a little… different.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And this is why Alex is holding his flumfers in one hand, Willie’s hand in his other. The other boy drops Alex’s hand in favour of clicking his helmet on and tossing the second to Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’ve done this a million times, but Alex </span>
  <em>
    <span>still </span>
  </em>
  <span>goes a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>red when he steps on the skateboard behind Willie, his hands set on the other boy’s waist. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They’re headed for the beach, before it begins to fill with people, so that Alex can set up his noisemakers. The plan is this: a concert.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s their first live performance in front of, like, </span>
  <em>
    <span>other people</span>
  </em>
  <span> (other than Caleb’s attack but Alex is still working to repress those memories), and to say that Alex is freaking out is… maybe a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>understated. He doesn’t exactly know </span>
  <em>
    <span>what </span>
  </em>
  <span>he’s feeling. It’s jellyfish and ink swimming together, and it almost feels like the ink is drowning the jellyfish a little, and his stomach is flipping, and when they get to the path leading down to the beach (too sandy for wheels), he grips Willie’s hand tight. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So.... maybe the ink from earlier that had </span>
  <em>
    <span>nothing </span>
  </em>
  <span>to do with today… actually </span>
  <em>
    <span>does </span>
  </em>
  <span>have everything to do with today.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He looks at Willie, who is biting his lip, waiting for Alex to speak.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m scared.” is the first thing Alex says, and it seems a little bit trivial, but then he sees Willie’s eyes crack just a little bit in worry, and then Willie gives him a small smile.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Alex. You’re going to be </span>
  <em>
    <span>amazing</span>
  </em>
  <span>.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I’m not worried about that, it’s like… no one has </span>
  <em>
    <span>ever </span>
  </em>
  <span>heard us play before. What if we suck? Wait, I guess I </span>
  <em>
    <span>am </span>
  </em>
  <span>worried about that. I…” he trails off. He doesn’t want to say “yeah, I don’t want to play in front of other people” because he does, he really does, it’s just…</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Their </span>
  <em>
    <span>first </span>
  </em>
  <span>performance.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Kind of a big </span>
  <em>
    <span>freakin </span>
  </em>
  <span>change from, like, music making in Alex’s grotto. But then, he supposes there have been quite a lot of big </span>
  <em>
    <span>freakin </span>
  </em>
  <span>changes since then, and all in all, he’s handled them pretty well.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Listen,” Willie touches his jaw, and Alex can feel the metal ring on his finger, cold against the warmth of his skin (case in point: </span>
  <em>
    <span>that </span>
  </em>
  <span>was a big </span>
  <em>
    <span>freakin </span>
  </em>
  <span>change). “I know how you are when you play your noisemakers, okay? I know that once you get behind them, you’re tapping out a beat, you lose yourself. I know you forget all that ink clouding your mind, and once the song is over, you don’t even realise it at all. And until then, you’ve got me, and the pod is here to distract you, we’ll just have fun for a few hours, okay? I believe in you.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex draws in a breath, Willie’s right. He knows he’s right. He just… has to hold off the ink until he can get behind his noisemakers. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And besides, he’s got a few idiots to distract him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Lexie! Alex! Alexander! Alexandrino! Aleeeeeeex!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Case in point part two: Reggie.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The way they have it worked out is that for </span>
  <em>
    <span>just today</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his pod will be given legs to play their music makers on a stage. They’ll do their show on a ship so that humans </span>
  <em>
    <span>and </span>
  </em>
  <span>mer can see. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Inclusivity!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>But back to the point: Reggie is wobbling around on his legs a ways down the beach, and is being laughed at by Julie and Luke, who Alex is sure already had their whole falling down thing, as they are holding hands and leaning against a rock. He can’t deny, he’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>happy to see them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He lets out a laugh and drags Willie down the beach to his pod. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The first thing that Reggie says is to Willie: “Did you bring me a hot dog?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This prompts a laugh out of Alex as Willie’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh, I messed up</span>
  </em>
  <span> face pops up, and he scratches the back of his neck and says, “Uh, sorry, Reg. I forgot.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“But!” Alex says, before Reggie’s disappointed face can pop up, “I bet you we can get some for the concert!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Reggie grins and sticks his tongue out. “Heck yeah! Hot </span>
  <em>
    <span>dogs</span>
  </em>
  <span>!”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, I think he likes them more than you, Alex,” says Julie, poking his arm when he comes close enough.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then it seems that Luke has had enough quiet and rest, because he lets go of Julie’s hand and bounces up and down on the balls of his feet (the boy cannot keep </span>
  <em>
    <span>still), </span>
  </em>
  <span>a grin on his face. “Okay, guys, like, this is </span>
  <em>
    <span>really cool. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Alex, I was hesitant at first when you were going on and on about how </span>
  <em>
    <span>awesome </span>
  </em>
  <span>legs were but </span>
  <em>
    <span>Poseidon</span>
  </em>
  <span>, you were </span>
  <em>
    <span>right</span>
  </em>
  <span>, like I can do </span>
  <em>
    <span>this?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>He leaps into a sand dune, occupied by Reggie, which gets them into a sand-war (“get your </span>
  <em>
    <span>own </span>
  </em>
  <span>tiny hill, Luke! Mine is </span>
  <em>
    <span>occupied!)</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Eventually, some sand gets thrown Julie’s way, which halts things for a moment while Luke looks almost fearfully at Julie, and then she scoops up her own handful of sand and throws it at Alex, who squawks and throws one right back (sand in his </span>
  <em>
    <span>hair)</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It turns into sand getting in </span>
  <em>
    <span>everyone’s </span>
  </em>
  <span>hair, though, even Willie, who joins the fight after Reggie throws some on him, and then retaliates by scooping up some </span>
  <em>
    <span>wet </span>
  </em>
  <span>sand and throwing it at Luke (wet sand packs better).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ink is completely forgotten.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>For the next few hours, Alex just focuses on having </span>
  <em>
    <span>fun </span>
  </em>
  <span>with his </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span>, his </span>
  <em>
    <span>pod, family</span>
  </em>
  <span>.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When the time comes to board the ship they’ll be performing on, there’s sand in everyone’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Alex’s cheek muscles are tired from smiling, and Reggie has mustard in the corner of his mouth.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The ship has a good amount of people on it, and there are mer in the sea beneath them (Alex can see Ray, a satisfied smile on his lips), and there’s their music makers on a low stage at the north end of the boat, where they can music so that both mer and humans can see them.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Pushing through the crowd, Alex can feel a little bit of the ink seeping through, because he feels… a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>underdressed, in his sandy clothes, but then so is the rest of his pod, so at least he knows he’s not alone.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>They mount the stage, and Willie lingers on the edge of the crowd, a small smile playing on his lips, his arms crossed. He believes in Alex.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex takes his place behind his noisemakers, his flumfers in his hands, Luke and Reggie at his left and right, Luke holding his kenfinizer, Reggie his kinnish. Julie takes her place behind her shimineh and clears her throat. The noise-louder they have set up amplifies her voice so that everyone, mer and human, can hear it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>A hush falls over the crowd, and Julie smiles around at everyone. It’s always been her job to introduce the songs they’re going to play when they rehearse, and today is no exception.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thanks for coming, everyone. We’re all </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>excited to be here, and we hope you like what we have to play for you today.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Short and sweet. Nice.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“We’re Julie and the Phantoms. Tell your friends.”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie and the Phantoms is the name for their pod that Flynn came up with a few months ago - she said she got the idea from a dream she’d had where everyone in the band except Julie was a ghost - a stretch, sure, but it got them a good pod name.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Julie looks at Luke, who nods and gives her a smile. She presses the keys on her shimeneh and starts to music.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Hearts on fire</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>we’re no liars,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>so we say what we wanna say</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>I’m awakened</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>no more faking,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>so we push all our fears away,”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Alex looks at Willie, in the crowd, a giant grin on his lips, and they haven’t even gotten to the chorus yet. He’d explained to Willie that </span>
  <em>
    <span>yeah</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he’d been the mer who’d sang to him on the beach so long ago a long time ago, but he knows that Willie’s still a </span>
  <em>
    <span>little </span>
  </em>
  <span>surprised every time he hears this song.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then it’s time for the rest of the pod to join in, and Alex bangs his noisemakers and lets himself listen to the music and Willie was </span>
  <em>
    <span>totally right</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he can’t focus on the ink right now, because he’s focused on making sure this song plays off smoothly.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>I got a spark in me,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>hands up if you can see,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>and you’re a part of me,</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>hands up if you’re with me</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>now ‘til eternity</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>hands up if you believe</span>
  </em>
</p><p>
  <em>
    <span>been so long, and now we’re finally free!”</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And Alex is </span>
  <em>
    <span>really </span>
  </em>
  <span>happy right now. Here, with his pod, with Willie in the crowd, looking at him with </span>
  <em>
    <span>so </span>
  </em>
  <span>much love in his eyes, and the humans and the mer cheering on Julie and the Phantoms.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>kind of </span>
  </em>
  <span>sappy, but</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>he hopes it’s like this forever.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The song ends and they transition into the next one and then the whole show ends and Alex stops playing and then he’s up and in the crowd and people are </span>
  <em>
    <span>cheering </span>
  </em>
  <span>and </span>
  <em>
    <span>clapping </span>
  </em>
  <span>and some are singing lyrics from their songs (which, like </span>
  <em>
    <span>what)</span>
  </em>
  <span>, and Willie’s grinning from ear to ear and he spends the rest of the night laughing and singing.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And then?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, then.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He lives happily ever after.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>WOW OKAY</p><p>ITS DONE</p><p>IT IS OVER</p><p>IM SO PROUD OF MYSELF</p><p>thank you so so so much to everyone who has stuck with me since the first chapter, thank you to everyone who showed up and just really liked this fic, and thank you to future peeps who are just having a good time! (hopefully, where you are, we'll have a season 2, huh?)</p><p>thank you also to the user PineappleTheatreKid on both <a href="https://pineappletheatrekid.tumblr.com/">tumblr</a> and <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/PineappleTheatreKid">ao3</a> for letting me scream at her all of my (not always happy) theories about jatp. love u pineapple!</p><p>this chapter was mostly me having fun with fluff, i didn't want to include a lot of angst (but. you know me), and here we are!!!</p><p>i've got *so* many ideas for more aus and hopefully i'll have my current favourite written in a few weeks. until then, i'll keep posting lil baby oneshots and things like that (no promises on the angst front, loves)</p><p>as always, kudos and comments are g r e a t l y appreciated!</p><p>fair winds, my lovely, lovely readers :)<br/>-rainy&lt;333</p><p>ps IF you wanna see more of the inner workings of my fabulous mind, come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p><p>pps HERE IS A LINK TO A DISCORD SERVER THAT YOU CAN JOIN IF YOU WANNA!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/AKkmdWRcZY">discordion!</a></p><p>I BID YOU ADIEU<br/>&lt;3&lt;3&lt;3&lt;3&lt;3</p>
        </blockquote><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Thank you so much for reading! more chapters are coming soon :)<br/>As always, kudos and comments are greatly appreciated!</p><p>fair winds, my lovely readers!<br/>-rainy&lt;3</p><p>ps here's a link to a discord server that i made, if you wanna join!<br/><a href="https://discord.gg/nYeMzSFd">Discord!</a> </p><p>pps come scream at me on <a href="https://fairylightsandrainydays.tumblr.com/">tumblr!</a></p></blockquote></div></div>
</body>
</html>